Systems and methods for controlling advertising, upselling, cross-selling, and purchasing of products and services via user receiving devices and mobile devices

ABSTRACT

A user receiving device including at least one transceiver module, an output module, a control module, and a transaction module. The at least one transceiver module is configured to receive an ad or an offer transmitted from at least one backend device to the user receiving device. The offer is directed to a product and/or service referred to in the ad. The output module is configured to display the ad or the offer on a display. The display is connected to the user receiving device. The at least one transceiver module is configured to receive a response signal transmitted from a mobile device to the user receiving device. The response signal is in response to the offer. The transaction module is configured to perform a transaction between the at least one backend device and a user of the mobile device based on the response signal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/592,828 filed on Jan. 8, 2015. All sections of the aforementionedapplication are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNOLOGY FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to television systems and, morespecifically, to systems and methods for controlling advertising,upselling, cross-selling, and purchasing of products and services viauser receiving devices and mobile devices.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Satellite television has become increasingly popular due to a widevariety of content and the quality of content available. A satellitetelevision system typically includes a set top box that is used toreceive satellite signals and decode the satellite signals for use on atelevision. The set top box typically has a memory associated therewith.The memory may include a digital video recorder or the like as well asstorage for an operating code of the set top box.

Content providers provide a variety of content to consumers. Availablecontent is typically received at a set top box (or user receivingdevice) and displayed to the user using a guide. The guide typicallyincludes channels and timeslots as well as programming information foreach information timeslot. The programming information may include thecontent title and other identifiers such as actor information and thelike. The user selects a channel via the guide and the set top box (STB)then displays the channel on a display (e.g., a television).

Customers (or users) of a service provider can subscribe to variouspackages. Each of the packages provides access to a certain set ofchannels. The customers call the service provider to establish anaccount with the service provider. While setting up an account, acustomer selects a package and provides billing information to theservice provider. The customer is then able to access channels in theselected package.

In addition to the channels in a selected package that a customer issigned up to receive, the customer may also receive additional content.This may include the customer selecting a channel, program and/or videovia the STB and/or again calling the service provider to request for theselected channel, program and/or video. For example, a customer mayrequest a video, obtain authorization to receive the video, and receivethe video at a STB of the customer. This is often referred to aspay-per-view (PPV). The video is transmitted to the STB and may then bedisplayed on a display (or television) of the STB. The customer maycontrol when the video is displayed.

In addition to content provided as part of a selected package and PPVcontent, product and/or service content may be provided. For example,content providers may broadcast advertisements (referred to sometimes ascommercials) for certain products and services available from variousthird parties. The advertisements may interrupt, for example, programsbeing viewed by users of a STB.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for providingcontent access based on quick response codes and text messages.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a user receiving device is provided andincludes at least one transceiver module, an output module, a controlmodule, and a transaction module. The at least one transceiver module isconfigured to receive an ad or an offer transmitted from at least onebackend device to the user receiving device. The offer is directed to aproduct and/or service referred to in the ad. The output module isconfigured to display the ad or the offer on a display. The display isconnected to the user receiving device. The at least one transceivermodule is configured to receive a response signal transmitted from amobile device to the user receiving device. The response signal is inresponse to the offer. The transaction module is configured to perform atransaction between the at least one backend device and a user of themobile device based on the response signal.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a user receiving device is providedand includes at least one transceiver module, an output module, and acontrol module. The at least one transceiver module is configured toreceive a video file and metadata from a first backend device. Themetadata indicates where in the video file an object is shown in animage of the video file. The output module is configured to playout avideo of the video file on a display, wherein the display is connectedto the user receiving device. The control module is configured tomonitor the metadata while the video is being playout to detect theobject and alter a portion of the image of the video to indicate to aviewer of the video that the object is purchasable.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a user receiving device is providedand includes at least one transceiver module, an output module, and acontrol module. The at least one transceiver module is configured toreceive a file from a first backend device. The file indicates where ina video an object is shown. The output module is configured to playoutthe video on a display. The display is connected to the user receivingdevice. The control module is configured to monitor data in the filewhile the video is being played out to detect the object, and generate asignal to indicate on the display that the object is purchasable.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a user receiving device is providedand includes at least one transceiver module, an output module, and acontrol module. The at least one transceiver module is configured toreceiving a shopping program from a first backend device. The outputmodule is configured to display the shopping program on a display,wherein the display is connected to the user receiving device. Thecontrol module is configured to perform image recognition on images ofthe shopping program to detect an object for sale and enable purchasingof the object via the user receiving device. The at least onetransceiver module is configured to receive a request signal from amobile device. The control module is configured to, based on the requestsignal, facilitate a transaction for the object between a viewer of themobile device and the first backend device or a second backend device.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a user receiving device is providedand includes at least one transceiver module, an output module, and acontrol module. The at least one transceiver module is configured toreceive metadata and a program or video from a first backend device. Themetadata indicates where in the program or video a spotted ad isincluded. The output module is configured to display the program orvideo on a display. The display is connected to the user receivingdevice. The at least one transceiver module is configured to receive arequest signal from a mobile device. The request signal indicates aviewer of the video has detected the spotted ad. The control module isconfigured to, based on the request signal, save information pertainingto the request signal, open a dialogue window or initiate a survey.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a userreceiving device is provided. The method includes: receiving an ad or anoffer transmitted from at least one backend device to the user receivingdevice, where the offer is directed to a product and/or service referredto in the ad; displaying the ad or the offer on a display, where thedisplay is connected to the user receiving device; receiving a responsesignal transmitted from a mobile device to the user receiving device,where the response signal is in response to the offer; and performing atransaction between the at least one backend device and a user of themobile device based on the response signal.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a userreceiving device is provided and includes: receiving a video file andmetadata from a first backend device, where the metadata indicates wherein the video file an object is shown in an image of the video file;playing out a video of the video file on a display, where the display isconnected to the user receiving device; monitoring the metadata whilethe video is being playout to detect the object; and altering a portionof the image of the video to indicate to a viewer of the video that theobject is purchasable.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a userreceiving device is provided and includes: receiving a file from a firstbackend device, where the file indicates where in a video an object isshown; playing out the video on a display, where the display isconnected to the user receiving device; monitoring data in the filewhile the video is being played out to detect the object; and generatinga signal to indicate on the display that the object is purchasable.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a userreceiving device is provided and includes: receiving a shopping programfrom a first backend device; displaying the shopping program on adisplay, where the display is connected to the user receiving device;performing image recognition on images of the shopping program to detectan object for sale and enable purchasing of the object via the userreceiving device; receiving a request signal from a mobile device; andbased on the request signal, facilitating a transaction for the objectbetween a viewer of the mobile device and the first backend device or asecond backend device.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a userreceiving device is provided and includes: receiving metadata and aprogram or video from a first backend device, where the metadataindicates where in the program or video a spotted ad is included;displaying the program or video on a display, where the display isconnected to the user receiving device; receiving a request signal froma mobile device, and where the request signal indicates a viewer of thevideo has detected the spotted ad; and based on the request signal,saving information pertaining to the request signal, open a dialoguewindow or initiate a survey.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a communication system inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a head end in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a user receiving device inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a control module of the userreceiving device of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a mobile device in accordancewith the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an advertising and purchasingmethod in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a screen illustrating an advertisement, an offer andinteraction buttons in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an upselling/cross-sellingmethod in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating anotherupselling/cross-selling method in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a product alerting method in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram is a product alerting system inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a purchasing dialogue window in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a confirmation dialogue window in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of a user receiving deviceillustrating a program and advertising output in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram of another advertising and purchasingmethod in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is an advertising and purchasing diagram illustratingcorresponding display screens in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a format of a moving pictures expert group (MPEG)-2transport stream (TS) packet in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates a shopping network recognition method in accordancewith the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a screen including a sales window in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 20 is a screen including the sales window of FIG. 18 and an orderinformation window in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates a spotted advertising method in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A set-top-box (STB) may receive an audio/video input signal via a cablenetwork or a satellite and direct the audio-video input to a television(or other display). A user may interact with the STB via a remotecontrol device, a cellular phone or other mobile device in order to viewa guide and/or programs on the television and manage usage of the STB.The terms “user”, “viewer”, and “customer” are used hereininterchangeably and may refer to the same person. Transactions betweenthe user and a service provider may be performed via the STB and themobile device. The transactions may be associated with services beingprovided by the service provider to the STB. The services may include,for example, programs, videos, and/or pay-per-view (PPV) products.Traditionally, commercial advertising includes broadcasting anddisplaying advertisements to users. The users then needed to take theinitiative to (i) remember the advertisements, corresponding productsand/or services, and related information, and (ii) at a later date, lookup, call and/or visit a vendor of the products and/or services in orderto purchase the products and/or services. This may include visiting avendor store to purchase the advertised products.

The following disclosed examples allow advertisers to presentpurchasable products and/or services and corresponding offers to userson displays of STBs, user receiving devices, mobile devices, etc. Theusers may inquire about the products and/or services and accept theoffers and/or other offers via the STBs, user receiving devices, mobiledevices, etc. The products and/or services may be shown in ads and/or inprograms, videos, etc. The offers may be accepted in real time (i.e. asthe offers are presented to the users). The STBs, user receiving devicesand mobile devices are configured to facilitate transactions betweenusers (or customers) and backend devices associated with advertisers,content providers, service providers, etc. The backend devices mayinclude head ends, content providers, service providers andcorresponding servers. The backend devices may also include advertiserservers.

As an example, the head ends, content providers, and service providersmay provide various types of content including programs, videos, and PPVcontent. Advertisers may advertise products (e.g., consumer products),services (e.g., residential or business services, legal services,medical services, etc.), programs (e.g., broadcast channels, concerts,sporting events, etc.), videos, PPV content (e.g., videos, sportingevents, etc.), and/or other items that can be advertised. The productsmay include the programs, videos, PPV content, and/or other content. Theconsumer products may include food and/or drink products, residentialproducts, business products, vehicles, and/or other products. Theadvertisements may advertise content provided by a content providerand/or products and services offered for purchase by other productand/or service providers.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system 10 that includes a head end 12. Thehead end 12 operates as a content processing system and a transmissionsource. The head end 12 may also be used for distributing content andproviding billing data. The details of the head end 12 will be furtherdescribed below with respect to FIG. 2.

One or more content providers 14, only one of which is illustrated inFIG. 1, may provide content and data related to the content such asmetadata to the head end 12. The content providers 14 may individuallyand/or collectively be referred to as a content service provider. Thecontent may include channels, programs, videos and/or other content. Themetadata may include ratings data. Ratings data may include MotionPicture Association ratings such as G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17 and X.Ratings data may also include television ratings such as TV-Y, TV-Y7,TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA. Of course, different countries may havedifferent rating systems. The head end 12 receives various types ofcontent and data from the content provider 14 and communicates thecontent to various user devices associated with the system.

The head end 12 may communicate content to users in various mannersincluding a satellite system and through terrestrial networks. Carryingthrough with the satellite example, the head end 12 includes an antenna18 for communicating process content through uplink signals 20 to asatellite 22. The satellite 22 may include a receiving antenna 24 and atransmitting antenna 26. The receiving antenna 24 receives the uplinksignals 20 from the satellite antenna 18. The transmitting antenna 26generates downlink signals 28 and communicates the downlink signals 28to various user receiving devices 30 and/or mobile devices 31. The userreceiving devices 30 may be implemented as and/or include set top boxes.

The head end 12 may be connected to the user receiving devices 30 viathe network 42 and/or the router 44. The network 42 may be a singlenetwork or a combination of different types of networks. For example,the network 42 may be a broadband wired network, a digital subscriberline (DSL) network, and/or a wireless network. A broadband wired networkmay be an Ethernet network or a phone line network. The network 42 maybe a one-way network such that data may be communicated from the userreceiving devices 30 to the head end 12. The network 42 may also be atwo-way network that delivers content from the head end 12 in responseto selection signals communicated from the user receiving devices 30.The network 42 may be in communication with the local area network 36.The network 42 may include an Internet.

The user receiving devices 30 may include and/or be connected todisplays 46 (e.g., televisions), as shown. The displays 46 may displayboth video signals and output audio signals. The user receiving devices30 may be referred to as fixed (or non-mobile) user devices because theuser receiving devices are intended to be used from a fixed position onthe surface of the earth. The user receiving devices 30 may includecircuitry to tune, decode and store content therein. Details of the userreceiving devices 30 are further described below.

The user receiving devices 30 may be in communication with each otherthrough a network 36 such as a local area network. Content may be storedin one or more of the user receiving devices 30 and/or in a memoryseparate from the user receiving devices 30 and accessed by the userreceiving devices 30. The content may be shared by and/or transmittedbetween the user receiving devices 30. The user receiving devices 30 maybe located in respective rooms of a building (an example of which isdesignated 29), such as a home, multi-unit dwelling or business. Thecontent may be delivered to two or more of the user receiving devices 30during a same period of time in a multi-room viewing function. The userreceiving devices 30 may be associated with one or more accounts.

The user receiving devices 30 are in communication with an antenna 48.The antenna 48 receives the downlink signals 28. Thus, the userreceiving devices 30 may be referred to as satellite televisionreceiving devices. However, the system has applicability innon-satellite applications, such as in wired or wireless terrestrialsystems. The user receiving devices 30 may be included in and/orimplemented as televisions, set top boxes, and/or set back boxes andthus may be referred to as fixed (or non-mobile devices). The userreceiving devices 30 may be referred to as televisions, set top boxes,and/or set back boxes. The user receiving devices 30 may beinterconnected.

The user receiving devices 30 may be connected to the router 44 and/ormay be in communication with the network 42 and the mobile devices 31.The mobile devices 31 may be cellular phones, smart phones (i.e. haveInternet access), dumb phones (i.e. do not have Internet access),tablets, laptops, wearable device, etc. A wearable device may be one ofa number of types of devices that are worn by a user. A wearable devicemay be fixed wearable by a user meaning the wearable device is meant tobe fixed to the user. Examples of wearable devices include acomputerized watch such as a Samsung® or Apple® watch. The watch devicesare fixed to an arm of the user. Another example of a wearable device isGOOGLE GLASS®, which is fixed to a head of a user. Of course, othertypes of wearable devices affixed to other parts of the body may beused. A wearable device may be in direct communication with the userreceiving devices 30 through Bluetooth® connections. As described below,the user receiving devices 30 and the mobile devices 31 may includeBluetooth® transceivers (referred to as radios). The mobile devices 31may also be in communication with the user receiving devices 30 viaInternet protocol (IP) connections and/or the router 44. The mobiledevices 31 may also be in communication with devices (e.g., the head end12) outside the local area network via the router 44 and/or the network42. As used herein, a mobile device may refer to a mobile phone, atablet, a remote control device, a wearable device, etc.

The router 44 may be a wireless router or a wired router or acombination of the two. For example, the user receiving devices 30 maybe wired to the router 44 and wirelessly coupled to the mobile devices31. The router 44 may communicate IP signals to the user receivingdevices 30. The IP signals may be used for controlling various functionsof the user receiving devices 30. IP signals may also originate from theuser receiving devices 30 and be transmitted to the mobile device 31.

The mobile devices 31 may also have displays, an example of which isshown in FIG. 5. The displays of the mobile devices 31 may display videoand output audio signals. The displays may be touch screens that act asuser interfaces. Other types of user interfaces on the mobile devices 31may include buttons and switches.

The network 42 may, for example, be a public switched telephone network,the Internet, a mobile telephone network or other type of network. Thenetwork 42 may be in direct wireless communication with the mobiledevice 31 via a cellular system and/or may be in indirect communicationwith the mobile devices 31 via the router 44 and/or the user receivingdevices 30.

The content provider 14 provides content to the head end 12. Althoughonly one content provider 14 is illustrated, more than one contentprovider may be incorporated in the system 10. The head end 12distributes the content through the satellite 22 and/or the network 42to the user receiving devices 30 and/or the mobile device 31. Thecontent provider 14 may include and/or be implemented as contentprovider server 49.

A data provider 50 may also provide data to the head end 12. The dataprovider 50 may provide various types of data such as schedule data ormetadata that is provided within the program guide system. The metadatamay include various descriptions, actor, director, star ratings, titles,user ratings, television or motion picture parental guidance ratings,descriptions, related descriptions and various other types of data. Thedata provider 50 may provide the data directly to the head end and mayalso provide data to various devices such as the mobile device 31 andthe user receiving device 30 through the network 42. This may beperformed in a direct manner through the network 42. The data provider50 may include and/or be implemented as a data provider server 52.

The communication system 10 may further include a product and/or serviceprovider 54, a payment service provider 56, an advertiser 58. Theproduct and/or service provider 54, the payment service provider 56and/or the advertiser 58 may respectively include and/or be implementedas a product and/or service provider server 60, a payment server 62and/or an advertiser server 64. The product and/or service providerserver 60 may offer for sale products (e.g., non-content products,consumer products) and/or offer services (e.g., residential and/orbusiness services, legal services, medical services, etc.) to users ofthe user receiving devices 30 and/or mobile devices 31. The paymentserver 62 may interact with the user receiving devices 30 and/or themobile devices 31 to facilitate presenting offers, receiving acceptanceof the offers and confirmation of the acceptance. The advertiser server64 may include an advertiser database 65 and may present offers forproducts and/or services to the user receiving devices 30 and the mobiledevices 31. The servers 49, 52, 60, 62 and 64 may communicate with theuser receiving devices 30 and mobile devices via the network 42 and/orrouter 44.

The communication system 10 may also include a cloud network 66(referred to as “the cloud”). The cloud network may include a cloudserver 68. The cloud server 68 may store various types if informationand/or data which may be accessible by the head end 12, the servers 49,52, 60, 62, 64, the user receiving devices 30 and the mobile devices 31.The various types of information and data may include, for example, userinformation, billing information, offers, ads including upsell and/orcross-sell ads, object (product and/or service) information, etc.

FIG. 2 shows the head end 12. It should be noted that the head end 12 isillustrated as a single device or facility, but may refer to multipledevices and/or facilities. That is, each of the individual componentsillustrated within the head end 12 may be physically located in variouslocations. The head end 12, one or more of the modules of the head end12, and/or the memory of the head end 12 may be included in the contentprovider 14.

The head end 12 may include a content distribution module 210 that isused for distributing content through different means. The head end 12may be in communication with an output module 212 for uplinking contentto a satellite through the uplink antenna 18 as illustrated in FIG. 1and/or transmitting signals to and/or receiving signals from the network42. The output module may include and/or be implemented as an interfaceand/or a transceiver. The content distribution module 210 may thusformat the signal in an appropriate format for uplinking through theoutput module 212. The output module 212 may uplink various contentthrough the satellite to the user receiving devices 30 and/or the mobiledevices 31 (collectively referred to as receiving devices) of FIG. 1.The content distribution module 210 may also transcode the content informats suitable for use by the receiving devices.

The output module 212 may also communicate conditional access data tothe receiving devices for accessing the content. The conditional accessdata may be communicated in a conditional access packet that includesdata for tuning the receiving devices to receive the data. Theconditional access data may be received directly or indirectly from aconditional access module 224. The conditional access module 224 mayprovide conditional access signals to a billing module 220 to allow aparticular user access to content. The conditional access module 224 maygenerate a conditional access packet (CAP) together with data from thebilling module 220 for uplinking through the output module 212. If thecontent is satellite content, access data such as, but not limited to,the particular transponder, channel and time at which the content isbroadcasted may be provided in the CAP. If the content is to be providedover an Internet or other broadband-type network, an IP address of thecontent may be provided. The CAP may also include encryption/decryptioninformation for the receiving devices to receive the content and decodethe content.

The content distribution module 210 may also be in communication with anetwork interface module 214. The network interface module 214 may be incommunication with the network 42 (shown in FIG. 1) for communicatingcontent therethrough. The network interface module 214 (or the contentdistribution module 210) may format the content signals into internetprotocol signals for distribution through the network 42.

The content distribution module 210 may also be in communication withcontent memory 216. The content memory 216 may be referred to as acontent repository. The content memory 216 may receive content from acontent providing module 217 for distribution through the satellitesystem or the network 42. The content providing module 217 may receivecontent from the content provider 14. The content memory 216 may saveon-demand or PPV content therein.

The content providing module 217 may also provide live televisioncontent for distribution through the content distribution module 210.The content distribution module 210 may thus communicate live contentthrough the output module 212 or through the network interface module214 to the appropriate networks. The content providing module 217 mayprovide content and/or ads to a video processing module 219, which mayperform image recognition to detect products and generate correspondingmetadata. This is described in further detail below.

The content providing module 217 processes received content forcommunication through the satellite 22 or network 42. The contentproviding module 217 may communicate live content as well as recordedcontent. The content memory 216 may store on-demand or PPV content fordistribution at various times. The PPV content may be broadcasted in alinear fashion (at a predetermined time according to a predeterminedschedule). Linear content may be presently broadcasted and may also bescheduled to be broadcasted in the future. The content memory 216 mayalso store on-demand content therein. On-demand content is content thatis broadcasted at the request of a user receiving device and may occurat any time (not on a predetermined schedule). On-demand content isreferred to as non-linear content.

A billing module 220 may also be incorporated into the head end 12. Thebilling module 220 may be used for associating one or more receivingdevices with a user account. For example, different types of receivingdevices such as mobile devices and one or more fixed set top boxes maybe associated with a user account. By associating the receiving deviceswith a user account, content may be shared or accessed by each of thereceiving devices associated with the account.

A registration module 222 may be used to associate each of the receivingdevices with a user account at the billing module 220. The registrationmodule 222 may be an automated system through which the user calls oraccesses remotely by computer for associating the receiving devices withthe account. The registration module 222 may also be partially humanactivated in which a customer service representative enters data formultiple receiving devices and associates the receiving devices with anaccount.

A program guide module 230 may also be included within the head end 12.The program guide module 230 receives metadata and other data from thecontent providing module 217. The program guide module 230 is ultimatelyused to communicate content and metadata to the output module 212. Theprogram guide module may thus contain data related to the ratings of theparticular content to be broadcasted and controlled by the contentdistribution module 210.

The program guide module 230 communicates program guide data to the userreceiving devices 30 illustrated in FIG. 1. The program guide module 230may create various objects with various types of data. The program guidemodule 230 may, for example, include schedule data, various types ofdescriptions for the content and content identifier that uniquelyidentifies each content item. The program guide module 230, in a typicalsystem, communicates up to two weeks of advanced guide data for linearcontent to the user receiving devices. The guide data includes tuningdata such as time of broadcast data, end time data, channel data, andtransponder data name a few. Guide data may also include contentavailable on-demand and pay-per-view content.

A scheduling module 232 may be in communication with the program guidemodule 230 and the content distribution module 210 to arrange thecontent to be distributed as well as provide program guide data for thecontent to be distributed. The scheduling module 232 may also be incommunication with the content providing module 217 for obtaining aschedule for live channel broadcast.

An authentication module 240 may be used to authenticate various userreceiving devices and mobile devices that communicate with the head end12. The authentication module 240 may be in communication with a billingmodule 220. The billing module 220 may provide data for subscriptionsand various authorizations suitable for the user receiving devices andthe mobile devices. The authentication module 240 ultimately permits theuser receiving devices and mobile devices to communicate with the headend 12. Authentication may be performed by providing a user identifier,a password, a user device identifier or combinations thereof. Channelsand/or programs may be provided to the user receiving devices and/ormobile devices based on passcodes, as further described below.

FIG. 3 shows a user receiving device 250 that may replace any of theuser receiving devices 30 of FIG. 1. Although, a particular exampleusing the user receiving device 250 as a satellite set top box isillustrated, it is merely representative of various electronic deviceswith an internal control module (or controller) used as a contentreceiving device. An antenna 252 may be one of a number of differenttypes of antennas used for receiving satellite signals that may includeone or more low noise blocks associated therewith. The antenna 252 maybe a single antenna used for satellite television reception. Of course,multiple antennas for receiving signals from satellites in differentorbital slots may be used. In a terrestrial system such as a cabletelevision system, no antenna may be used. Rather, a connector to afiber optic or coaxial cable may be used. Terrestrial systems may havean antenna suitable for receiving terrestrial wireless signals. The userreceiving device 250 is connected to a display (e.g., one of thedisplays 46). The user receiving device 250 may have an output driver310 for formatting video and audio signals for output to the display 46.

A user receiving device control module 330 may be used to coordinate andcontrol the various functions of the user receiving device 250. The userreceiving device control module 330 may include and/or be implemented asa controller. These functions may include functions of: tuners 320A-320N(collectively 320); demodulators 322A-322N (collectively 322); decoders324A-324N (collectively 324) such as forward error correction decoders;and any corresponding buffers and/or other related functions.

The tuners 320 receive respective signals or data from correspondingindividual channels. The tuners 320 may receive data from a satellite ora source such as cable or over-the-air TV broadcasts. The tuners 320 mayreceive television programming content, program guide data or othertypes of data. The demodulators 322 demodulate the signals or data toform a demodulated signal or data. The decoders 324 decode thedemodulated signals to form decoded data or decoded signals. Byproviding a number of tuners, demodulators and decoders, a number ofdifferent content programs may be used by the user receiving device 250.For example, live viewing and recording may be performed simultaneously.A number of recordings may be made simultaneously depending on thenumber of tuners available.

The user receiving device control module 330 is in communication with amemory 340. The memory 340 is illustrated as a single box. The memory340 may be implemented as multiple different types of memories includinga hard drive, a flash drive and various other types of memory devices.The memory 340 may be other types of memory or sections of differenttypes of memory. The memory 340 may be non-volatile memory or volatilememory. The memory 340 may include a customer database 341 and a DVR342. The DVR 342 may include recorded content stored for later playback.

The memory 340 may include storage for various operational datacollected during operation of the user receiving device 250. Forexample, the memory 340 may store user configuration data for each userassociated with a device or system. The user configuration data mayinclude rating limits set by a user of the user receiving device 250. Adefault user configuration may also be established in case visualrecognition is not achieved. This will be described in detail below.Other types of data in the memory 340 may include the channelsubscription data, the blocked channels, adult channels, current set topbox language, TV resolution data, to do list data, the conditionalaccess module identifier, time zone data, time of day daylight savings,status data, aspect ratio data, viewing hours data, quick tune list anda zip code.

The memory 340 may also store the advanced program guide data. Thememory 340 may store program guide data that is received from the headend. The program guide data may include amounts of data including two ormore weeks of program guide data. The program guide data may becommunicated to the user receiving device 250 in various mannersincluding through the satellite 22 of FIG. 1. The program guide data mayinclude content or program identifiers, ratings and various data objectscorresponding thereto.

The user receiving device 250 may also include a user interface (UI)350. The UI 350 may include various types of user interfaces such as akeyboard, push buttons, a touch screen, and a voice activated interfaceor the like. The UI 350 may be used to: select a channel; change userprofiles including acceptable ratings; select various information suchas content selections; change the volume; change the display appearance;and/or perform other functions. The UI 350 may also be used forselecting playback locations of the content.

A network interface 352 may be included within the user receiving device250 to communicate various data through the networks 36, 42 describedabove. In one implementation, the user receiving device 250 does notinclude the network interface 352. The network interface 352 may be aWiFi, WiMax, WiMax mobile, wireless, cellular, or other types ofcommunication systems. The network interface 352 may use variousprotocols for communication therethrough including, but not limited to,hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).

The user receiving device 250 may also include a conditional accessmodule 360. The conditional access module 360 prevents unauthorizedreception of the television signals through the antenna 252. Theconditional access module 360 may use a cryptographic hash to authorizethe use and display of the received signals. The conditional accessmodule 360 may receive the proper codes or signals from the head end.

The user receiving device control module 330 may also be connected to aBluetooth module 362 (is Bluetooth® enabled). The Bluetooth module 362may include and/or be implemented as a Bluetooth transceiver. TheBluetooth transceiver may be in communication with mobile devices (e.g.,the mobile devices 31 of FIG. 1). The user receiving device controlmodule 330 may communicate with the mobile devices 31 via the router 44and/or the Bluetooth transceiver. The transceivers disclosed herein mayinclude and/or be implemented as transceivers.

The user receiving device control module 330 may also include aninfrared or radio frequency transceiver 364 for communication with aremote control device 366. The remote control device 366 may be used to,for example, change a channel of the user receiving device 250. Theremote control device 366 may also be used to, for example, resumeviewing of a channel and/or a video, as is further described below. Theremote control device 366 may include a keypad 368 for generating keysignals that are communicated to the user receiving device 250. Theremote control device 366 may also include a microphone 370 forreceiving an audible signal and converting the audible signal to anelectrical signal. The electrical signal may be communicated to the userreceiving device 250. The remote control device 366 may also include adisplay 372.

FIG. 4 shows a portion 400 of a user receiving device (e.g., one of theuser receiving devices 30, 250 disclosed above). The portion 400includes the output driver 310, the user receiving device control module330, the network interface 352, the Bluetooth module 362, and thetransceiver 364. The portion 400 also includes the memory 340 and theDVR 342, which are shown collectively as memory/DVR 340/342. The userreceiving device control module 330 includes a transaction system 402.The transaction system 402 includes a transaction module 404, a profilemodule 410, a channel module 412, a DVR module 414, an output module 416and a security module 418.

The transaction module 404 includes a metadata module 420, a purchasingmodule 422, an authorization module 424, and a pay-per-view (PPV) module426. The metadata module 420 monitors metadata to detect purchasableobjects in a video. The purchasing module 422 may control purchasing ofcontent by a user of a mobile device. This may include receiving and/orexchanging identification information, billing information, and/orcontact information with a mobile device of a user and/or a contentprovider. The stated information may be received from the mobile deviceand transferred to the content provider or may be provided by thecontent provider. The stated information may be stored in the memory 340and accessed by any of the modules 420, 422, 424, 426. The purchasingmodule 422 may provide confirmation request messages, which may bedisplayed to confirm that the user wants to purchase certain selectedcontent. The confirmation request messages may have originated at and/orhave been received from the content provider.

The authorization module 424 may perform one or more handshake processeswith the head end, the content provider, and/or a mobile device toauthorize (or reauthorize) reception and/or display of content on adisplay of the corresponding user receiving device and/or the mobiledevice. The content may be PPV content or other content. In oneembodiment, the authorization module 424 receives authorization signalsfrom a content provider to permit downloading and/or displaying ofcertain content.

The authorization module 424 may generate authorization preview screensand/or authorization messages. The authorization module 424 may displayvia the output module 416 the authorization preview screens and theauthorization messages. The authorization preview screen may be a blank(or black) screen or may provide, for example, an image of a scene ofthe content attempting to be accessed by a user. The authorizationpreview screen may include an authorization message and/or a code.

The pay-per-view (PPV) module 426 may generate PPV preview screensand/or PPV messages. The PPV module 426 may display via the outputmodule 416 the PPV preview screens and the PPV messages. The PPV previewscreen may be a blank (or black) screen or may provide, for example, animage of a scene of the content attempting to be accessed by a user. ThePPV preview screen may include a PPV message.

The profile module 410 manages profiles 430 of each of the mobiledevices paired with the corresponding user receiving device. Theprofiles 430 may be stored in the memory 340 and accessed by the profilemodule 410. Each of the profiles 430 may have a unique identifier (ID)number, an assigned security level, and corresponding authorizedchannels, programs and/or videos. The security level may indicate whichchannels, programs, and/or videos are permitted to be displayed for thecorresponding profile. Different profiles may have the same securitylevel or different security levels. One or more mobile devices may beassigned to a profile and thus have a corresponding profile ID number.Each of the profiles may also include mobile device and/or profilespecific features such as volume levels, maximum volumes, amount of timepermitted ON over a predetermined period, a playlist of recorded videos,a preferred channel list, and other features. The profile module 410 maycreate each of the profiles 430 based on: parental control inputs;operation history of the corresponding mobile devices; time of day ofwatching a channel, program and/or video; and/or profile informationprovided by the corresponding mobile devices.

The channel module 412 may control selection and output of channels tothe output driver 310 via the output module 416. The DVR module 414 maycontrol selection, recording, and/or output of videos. The DVR module414 may store videos in the DVR 342 and output the videos via the outputmodule 416 to the output driver 310 for display. The channel module 412and the DVR module 414 may operate based on parental guidance controls.The channel module 412 and the DVR module 414 may provide channelsand/or videos to the output module based on the profile ID number and/orthe security level associated with a profile of one or more mobiledevices. The videos may be stored as video files 432 in the memory 340and/or DVR 342.

The output module 416 controls output of channels, programs, and/orvideos to the output driver 310. This may be based on parental guidancecontrols. The output module 416 may output channels and/or videos to theoutput driver 310 based on the profile ID number and/or the securitylevel associated with a profile of one or more mobile devices. Theoutput module 416 includes an image module 417 that may alter a portionof an image of an object to alert a viewer of the object.

The security module 418 may control operation of the output module 416based on a security level of a profile. The security module 418 may alsobe used to set passcodes and/or require a passcode to view certainchannels, programs and/or videos. The security module 418 may be incommunication with the mobile devices via the Bluetooth module 362.

FIG. 5 shows a mobile device 450. Any of the mobile devices of FIG. 1may be configured as the mobile device 450. The mobile device 450includes a mobile device control module 452 that controls variousfunctions of the mobile device 450. The mobile device control module 452includes a second transaction system 453 that includes a transactionmodule 454, a channel module 458, a video module 459, a profile module460, an output module 462 and a security module 464. The transactionmodule 454 includes a metadata module 466, a second purchasing module468, a second authorization module 470, and a second pay-per-view (PPV)module 471. The metadata module 466 monitors metadata to detectpurchasable objects in a video.

The purchasing module 468 may control purchasing of content by a user ofa mobile device. This may include receiving and/or exchangingidentification information, billing information, and/or contactinformation with a user receiving device and/or a content provider. Thestated information may be stored in the memory 340 and accessed by anyof the modules 466, 468, 470 and 471. The purchasing module 468 mayprovide confirmation request messages, which may be displayed on themobile device to confirm that the user wants to purchase certainselected content. The confirmation messages may have originated atand/or have been received from the user receiving device and/or thecontent provider.

The authorization module 470 may perform a handshake process with thehead end and/or the content provider disclosed above to authorize (orreauthorize) reception and/or display of content on a display of a userreceiving device and/or the mobile device. An authorization signal forselected content may be received from a head end or content provider andforwarded from the mobile device to the user receiving device. Theauthorization signal permits downloading and/or displaying of certaincontent.

The PPV module 471 may control PPV purchase requests. The PPV module 471may generate request signals for PPV content. The PPV request signalsmay include channel, program and/or video identification information.This information may be provided to a head end, content service providerand/or user receiving device. The PPV module 471 may receive PPV contentfrom the head end, the content provider and/or the user receiving deviceand forward the content to the channel module, the video module, and/orthe memory 482. The PPV module 471 may display the content via theoutput module 462 on the display 472.

The profile module 460 manages profiles of the mobile device 450 and/orother mobile devices. The profiles 480 may be stored in memory 482 andaccessed by the profile module 460. The profiles 480 may haverespectively a unique ID, an assigned security level, and correspondingauthorized channels, programs and/or videos. The profile ID may beassigned by a user receiving device. The security level may be assignedby another mobile device (e.g., parental device) and/or a user receivingdevice. The security level may indicate which channels, programs, and/orvideos are permitted to be displayed for the corresponding profile. Eachof the profiles may also include mobile device and/or profile specificfeatures such as volume levels, maximum volumes, time permitted ON overa predetermined period, a playlist of recorded videos, a preferredchannel list, and other features. The profile module 460 may create theprofiles 480 based on parental control inputs, operation history of thecorresponding mobile devices, and/or profile information provided by thecorresponding mobile devices. As an alternative the profile module 460may receive one or more of the profiles 480 from a user receivingdevice. The profile module 460 may store user profile data within themobile device 450. The profile module 460 may store user settings, suchas favorites and parental controls. The profile module 460 may alsoreceive profile data from the head end 12.

The output module 462 controls output of signals, guides, channels,programs, and/or videos to the display 472. Although not shown, themobile device control module 452 may include guide, channel, program,and/or video modules for the accessing and/or displaying respectively ofguides, channels, programs, and/or videos. The output module 462 mayoutput signals, guides, channels, programs, and/or videos to the display472 based on the profile ID and/or the security level associated withthe profile 480. The output module 462 includes an image module 463 thatmay alter a portion of an image of an object to alert a viewer of theobject.

The security module 464 may control operation of the output module 462based on a security level of the profile 480. The security module 464may also be used to set passcodes and/or require a passcode to viewcertain channels, programs and/or videos. The security module 464 may bein communication with user receiving device s via a Bluetooth module 484and/or other interface and/or transceiver.

In one implementation the mobile device 450 may be used as a remotecontrol device and send signals to a user receiving device to select achannel, program and/or video. In another embodiment, the securitymodule 464 provides a passcode, which may be entered by a user of themobile device 450. Content received by the mobile device control module452 may be stored in the memory. This may include programs and/or videos486.

The mobile device control module 452 is in communication with amicrophone 488 that receives audible signals and converts the audiblesignals into electrical signals. The audible signals may include arequest signal. The request signal may be to perform a search and/or toobtain guide data, network data and/or playlist data. The mobile devicecontrol module 452 is also in communication with a user interface 490.The user interface 490 may include buttons, input switches and/or atouch screen.

The mobile device control module 452 is also in communication with anetwork interface 492. The network interface 492 may be used tointerface with the network 42 of FIG. 1. As mentioned above, the network42 may be a wireless network or the Internet. The network interface 492may communicate with a cellular system or with the internet or both. Anetwork identifier may be attached to or associated with eachcommunication from the mobile device 450.

Various examples are disclosed below with respect to the embodiments ofFIGS. 6-9 and other embodiments of the present disclosure. Although oneor more of the embodiments are primarily described with respect to acontent provider, all of the tasks performed by the content provider maybe performed by a head end, a content service provider, a network,and/or an intermediary device in communication with a correspondingmobile device, head end, and/or the content provider.

For the embodiments of FIGS. 6-21 and other embodiments disclosedherein, the mobile devices may include software applications (referredto as “apps”) with corresponding screens (or windows). The apps may becontrolled via one or more modules (e.g., control modules) of the mobiledevices and may allow a user to send various types of informationdisclosed herein to a user receiving device and/or a content provider.The apps and corresponding screens may allow the user to perform varioustasks such as confirming a purchase, send billing information, sendcontact information, answer questions in a survey, selected a product,etc. As used herein, the term “user” may refer to an individualassociated with an account provided by a content provider or other user.

FIG. 6 shows a sequence diagram illustrating an advertising andpurchasing method. A product and/or service may be offered by a productand/or service provider 500 (e.g., the product and/or service provider54 of FIG. 1). In the example shown, this is represented by offersignals that may be initiated at, originated by, and/or transmitted fromthe product and/or service provider 500 to a payment service provider502 (e.g., the payment service provider 56 of FIG. 1), an advertiser 504(e.g., the advertiser 58 of FIG. 1), a content provider 506 (e.g., thecontent provider 14 and/or the head end 12 of FIG. 1), a user receivingdevice 508 (e.g., one of the user receiving devices 30 of FIG. 1) and/ora mobile device 510 (e.g., one of the mobile devices 31 of FIG. 1).

A first offer signal 512 indicates the offer being presented to the userreceiving device 508 and/or the mobile device 510 and is transmitted tothe payment service provider 502. The payment service provider 502 isthen able to interact with the user receiving device 508 and/or mobiledevice 510 to perform a transaction. A second offer signal 514, in theform of an ad and/or offer request, may be transmitted from the productand/or service provider 500 to the advertiser 504. The ad and/or offerrequest may include an offer for a product and/or service and may be arequest to the advertiser 504 to generate an advertisement (referred toas an “ad”) including the offer. The ad may be generated by theadvertiser 504. The ad and/or offer (designated 516) may be transmittedfrom the advertiser 504 to the content provider 506, which may then beforwarded to the user receiving device 508 and/or mobile device 510.

The ad and/or offer may then be displayed on a display of the userreceiving device 508 and/or the mobile device 510. An example, an ad511, an offer 513 and interaction buttons 515 are shown in a window 517on a screen 519 in FIG. 7. The interaction buttons may include an“Accept” button, a “Decline” button, a “More Information” button, a“Disable Offers” button, etc. The offer 513 may be superimposed onand/or included in the ad 511. The interaction buttons 515 may besuperimposed on or shown separate from the ad 511 and/or offer 513. Thead 511 and/or offer 513 may be displayed prior to, during and/orsubsequent to a program and/or video being displayed on the userreceiving device 508 and/or mobile device 510. The ad 511 and/or offer513 may be superimposed on the program and/or video being displayed.

The user may respond to the offer 513 via the mobile device 510 byproviding a user input to accept and/or request additional informationregarding the offer. The mobile device 510 may generate an offerresponse 518, which may be transmitted to the user receiving device 508,content provider 506, advertiser, 504, payment service provider 502,and/or product and/or service provider 500. The offer response 518 maybe originated at the mobile device 510 and may be forwarded to the userreceiving device 508, content provider 506, advertiser, 504, paymentservice provider 502, and/or product and/or service provider 500.

A confirmation request 520 may be generated by any one of the productand/or service provider 500, the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508and may be sent to any one of the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508,and the mobile device 510. A confirmation response 522 may then begenerated by any one of the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508, and themobile device 510 and may be sent to any one of the product and/orservice provider 500, the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508. Theconfirmation request 520 and the confirmation response 522 may be sentdirectly between the providers and devices 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, 510or may be indirectly sent by intermediary ones of the providers and/ordevices forwarding the confirmation request 520 and/or confirmationresponse 522. Other below described confirmation requests and/orconfirmation responses may be similarly generated, transmitted and/orforwarded between corresponding providers and/or devices. In oneembodiment, a confirmation request includes data that is tracked andsent back to a provider and/or device from which an offer response wasgenerated and/or forwarded from. A confirmation response may include thesame data and/or additional data as the confirmation request. The dataincluded in the confirmation response may also be tracked and sent backto a provider and/or device from which a confirmation request wasgenerated and/or forwarded from.

When a user is watching a program and/or video displayed via the userreceiving device 508, the user receiving device 508 may display an ad(commercial, infomercial, donor request, etc.). The user may thenrespond to the offer via the mobile device 510. This may includingsending response signals to the advertiser 504, the payment serviceprovider 502 and/or the product and/or service provider 500 and/ortransferring related information between (i) the mobile device 510 and(ii) the advertiser 504, the payment service provider 502 and/or theproduct and/or service provider 500. To respond to the offer, the usermay, for example: click on a button on the mobile device (e.g., a buttonallocated to responding to offers); touch a button or area on thedisplay of the user receiving device 508 and/or mobile device 510;and/or perform one or more other actions via the mobile device 510.

The response to the offer initiates and/or finalizes the transactionoffered and accepted by the user. The offer may be accepted andfinalized by the offer response 518 or a confirmation request 520 may begenerated. The response, as disclosed herein may also lead to otherinformation about the product and/or service being offered and/or toother offers. Responding to the offer and/or acceptance of the offer maytrigger the advertiser 504, the payment service provider 502 and/or theproduct and/or service provider 500 to send coupons, donation requests,offers, and/or information to the user. The coupons, donation requests,offers and/or information may be directed to the initial product and/orservice offered and/or to other products and/or services. The coupons,donation requests, offers and/or information may be sent to a home ofthe user. The donations requests may be for a non-profit organization.

Subsequent to the offer response 518 and/or the confirmation response522 being received, a product shipped notification 530 may be sent from,for example, the product/service provider 500 to the user receivingdevice 508 and/or the mobile device 510. The product shippednotification 530 may be displayed on the display of the user receivingdevice and/or on the display of the mobile device 510. The productshipped notification 530 may indicate to the user that the product hasbeen shipped and/or when the user can expect to receive the product. Atransaction performed for a product may be considered completed when anoffer response, a confirmation response, and/or a purchase productand/or service is received and/or provided. For example, an on-lineportion of a purchase transaction may be considered completed when anoffer response is received, a confirmation response is received and/or aproduct shipped notification is received. The entire purchasetransaction may be considered completed when a purchased product isreceived and/or a purchased service is provided.

The method of FIG. 6 allows a user (or viewer) watching an advertisementto accept an offer from an advertiser. The viewer may take action, suchas a click on a special remote control button or navigate a menuon-screen (e.g., display of corresponding user receiving device ormobile device) in order to initiate a transaction with the advertiser.The user receiving device notes for what channel and time thetransaction is initiated. Once the viewer initiates the transaction, thetransaction information may be sent over the Internet to a computersystem (or server) of a content service provider (e.g., DirecTV®) via,for example, the Internet. The transaction information may includecustomer contact information, billing information, payment information,bill of sales information, product and/or service information, etc. Theserver of the content service provider (such as any of the exampleservers of the disclosed content providers and content service providersdisclosed herein) may control and/or have access to a customer databaseand/or an advertiser database. The customer database may be stored atthe content provider, content service provider, a head end, or otherbackend device and include customer information. The advertiser databasemay be stored at the advertiser and include advertiser informationincluding ads and corresponding offers and/or surveys. The advertiserand/or other backend device may coordinate transfer and acceptance ofadvertising offers and customer requests. In one embodiment, after thetransaction between the advertiser and the viewer (or customer) isfinalized, the advertiser may communicate with the content serviceprovider, content provider, head end, payment service provider, productand/or service provider, etc. to make arrangements to provide thepurchased product and/or service to the customer.

In addition to products and services, a viewer may request coupons for aproduct and/or service. For example, a viewer who sees a commercial fordiapers may request coupons by clicking on a button (e.g., a “takeoffer” button or an “Accept Offer!” button) on a mobile device. Uponclicking on the button, a timestamp and channel are sent over theInternet to a central database, which records the customer's requestwith the appropriate offer. The advertiser is then sent a messageaccording to a previous arrangement with the content service provider(e.g., DirecTV®) giving the name and addresses of the customer (or, toprotect customer information, the content service provider sends couponsto the customer on behalf of the advertiser and/or product and/orservice provider).

Other types of transactions may also be implemented. For example, in thecase of an infomercial, the content service provider may collect apercentage of a sale and bill a customer on a next billing cycle whilesending information to a product and/or service provider (or infomercialbusiness) that a new purchase has occurred. As another example, acontent service provider may partner with a business (e.g., a localpizza shop) for special offers and broadcast advertisements and theoffers to be displayed on displays of user receiving devices and/ormobile devices. Customers may then accept the offers via the mobiledevices. As another example, during a game, a viewer may place an ordervia a mobile device and/or user receiving device to order a product(e.g., a pizza). The content service provider may receive a commissionfor facilitating this sale.

There are several benefits to having a content service providerfacilitate viewer-advertiser transactions. Returning to one of theprevious examples, a content service provider knowing that a customer isrequesting coupons for a particular product allows the content serviceprovider to cater advertising directed to customers. The content serviceprovider is able to provide advertising that a customer may beinterested in, as opposed to other advertising, which the customer mayignore, skip, and/or delete. Tracking what people watch is good, buttracking what offers they accept is better. All of this offers a wideropportunity to increase revenues. Advertisements that a customer isinterested in and/or corresponding offers that a customer accepts may bestored as a portion of the customer information and may be sharedbetween backend devices. This provides feedback to allow content serviceproviders and/or advertisers to track what ads are working (i.e. whichads are triggering accepted offers and how many times each of the offersis being accepted). The ads that are working may be improved upon andthe ads that are not working may be changed or thrown out. This alsoimproves the customer's experience.

The above-described method of FIG. 6 may include a user receiving devicereceiving audio-visual data via a satellite, a cable network, afiber-optic network, the Internet and/or other network. The userreceiving device displays programs, advertisements and offers. A viewerwatching the programs, advertisements and offers may respond to theoffers via a mobile device (e.g., a remote control or cellular phone).The viewer may navigate a guide to: select programs for viewing orpurchase; accept an offer from an advertiser; and/or select and/orpurchase a product and/or service of an advertisement. The advertisementmay be in the form of: a full program (e.g., a program viewed over anextended timespan on a specific viewing channel); or may be provided fora short timespan within and/or as part of a program. Backend devices,including a customer database and/or an advertiser database, fulfillviewer accepted offers from advertisers for content offers (e.g., offersfor programs and/or videos) and non-content offers (offers directed toother products and/or services).

As a non-content based example, a viewer may watch a video and anadvertisement that presents an offer, which is not deliverable through auser receiving device. The offer may allow a viewer to: request moreinformation regarding a product and/or service and/or related productsand/or services; request coupons; make a donation; purchase a product;schedule a visit (e.g., a doctor visit); etc. The viewer accepts theoffer and/or transmits one or more of the requests via a mobile deviceto a user receiving device and/or backend device. This may be done bythe user clicking on a special button, clicking sequence of buttons, orthrough specialized navigation on a screen. Once the viewer accepts theoffer and/or makes a request, a series of Internet communications occur.These communications include data being transmitted (i) between the userreceiving device and/or mobile device, (ii) between the user receivingdevice and one or more backend devices, and/or (ii) between the mobiledevice and one or more backend devices. The communications are performedto establish and confirm which viewer is accepting which offer fromwhich advertiser.

Once the Internet communications are completed and the transaction ofaccepting the offer is completed, the content provider (or contentservice provider) and/or the user receiving device fulfills the offer.Depending on the offer accepted, the content provider and/or the userreceiving device may fulfill the offer differently. For example, infulfilling the offer, the content provider and/or the user receivingdevice may share the viewer's request, name and address to an advertiserassociated with the offer selected. As another example, the contentprovider and/or the user receiving device may: accept payment from aviewer on behalf of an advertiser (while taking a commission of thesale); bill the viewer on behalf of the advertiser; inform theadvertiser of the offer acceptance; and/or send the advertiserinformation pertaining to the offer and acceptance for the advertiser tofulfill or handle the accepted offer. As another example, the contentservice provider may communicate with the advertiser and/or a serviceprovider of a service being provided to schedule an appointment for theservice (e.g., schedule an appointment with a doctor). This may includetransferring between the content service provider and one or morebackend devices, information such as time and date of appointment, typeof appointment, name of company and/or person offering the service,location of the appointment, name of company and/or person offering theservice, customer information, billing information of customer, customercontact information, an hourly service rate, etc. If the viewer ispurchasing a product from an infomercial, other information (e.g., nameof company offering the product, customer information, billinginformation of customer, customer contact information, price of theproduct, number of each product purchased, IDs of the productspurchased, serial numbers or other identification numbers of theproducts purchased, etc.) may be transferred between (i) the contentservice provider and/or the user receiving device and (ii) the productprovider. Although the information may vary that is transferred between(i) the service provider and/or the user receiving device and (ii) oneor more other backend devices, the way in which a viewer acceptsdifferent types of offers may be similar and/or not vary much from aviewer's perspective.

In another embodiment, after a user receiving device has received aviewer's acceptance from a mobile device, the user receiving device maystart communicating with a content service provider and/or one or moreother backend devices to fulfill the order accepted. This may be donevia the Internet and using respective communication protocols toestablish and confirm the acceptance of the offer with the one or morebackend devices. The user receiving device may record offers presentedand offers accepted, which may be shared with one or more of the backenddevices. As an alternative, the content service provider may communicatewith one or more backend devices to fulfill the order accepted.Information may be transferred between the service provider and the oneor more backend devices to complete the transaction associated with theaccepted offer. The contact service provider may contact the advertiser,a fulfillment house, a product and/or service provider, etc. infulfilling the order. Regardless of whether the user receiving deviceand/or the content service provider fulfills the order, the transactionis completed outside of a STB environment experienced by the customer.

The customer and advertiser databases may be accessed by a userreceiving device and/or a service provider. Although the databases 65,341 of FIGS. 1 and 3 are shown as being included in the advertiser 58and in the memory 340 of the user receiving device 250, the databasesmay be stored elsewhere and/or shared by other backend devices. Thedatabases 65, 341 may be stored, for example, in the cloud server 68 ofFIG. 1. The databases may include advertisement information, offers,customer information, and/or other information disclosed herein.

FIG. 8 shows a sequence diagram illustrating an upselling/cross-sellingmethod. The upselling and cross-selling method is similar to the methodof FIG. 6, but further includes upselling and/or cross-sellingadditional products and/or services. The additional products and/orservices may be similar to and/or related to products and/or servicesthat a customer previously was interested in and/or purchased. Theadditional products and/or services may include upgrades to currentproducts and/or services being purchased and/or may be similar to thecurrent products and/or services being purchased.

The upselling and/or cross-selling may be based on previously trackedcustomer history including tracking products and/or services that thecustomer had interest in and/or products and/or services the customerpreviously purchased. The customer history may be stored in any of theabove-disclosed memories and/or servers. The customer history may beanalyzed by a user receiving device, a content service provider, a headend, a product and/or service provider, to provide demographic and/orpsychographic data. This data may include channels watched by thecustomer, items purchased, advertisements for which offers are accepted,donations made by the customer (including amounts and to whom or to whatthe donations are made), period (or time) of day the customer watchestelevision and/or videos, etc.

A first offer signal 550 indicates the offer being presented to the userreceiving device 508 and/or the mobile device 510 and is transmitted tothe payment service provider 502. The payment service provider 502 maythen interact with the user receiving device 508 and/or mobile device510 to perform a transaction. A second offer signal 552, in the form ofan ad and/or offer request, may be transmitted from the product and/orservice provider 500 to the advertiser 504. The ad and/or offer requestmay include an offer for a product and/or service and may be a requestto the advertiser 504 to generate an advertisement (referred to as an“ad”) including the offer. The ad may be generated by the advertiser504. The ad and/or offer (designated 556) may be transmitted from theadvertiser 504 to the content provider 506, which may then be forwardedto the user receiving device 508 and/or mobile device 510.

The ad and/or offer 556 may then be displayed on a display of the userreceiving device 508 and/or the mobile device 510. The ad and/or offer556 may be displayed prior to, during and/or subsequent to a programand/or video being displayed on the user receiving device 508 and/ormobile device 510. The ad and/or offer 556 may be superimposed on theprogram and/or video being displayed.

The user may respond to the offer via the mobile device 510 by providinga user input to accept and/or request additional information regardingthe offer. The mobile device 510 may generate an offer response 558,which may be transmitted to the user receiving device 508, contentprovider 506, advertiser, 504, payment service provider 502, and/orproduct and/or service provider 500. The offer response 558 may beoriginated at the mobile device 510 and may be forwarded to the userreceiving device 508, content provider 506, advertiser, 504, paymentservice provider 502, and/or product and/or service provider 500.

An upsell ad, a cross-sell ad, an upsell offer, and/or a cross-selloffer (collectively designated 560) may be transmitted from one or moreof the back end devices 500, 502, 504, 506 to the user receiving device508 and/or the mobile device 510. The user receiving device may transmitthe upsell ad, a cross-sell ad, an upsell offer, and/or a cross-selloffer 560 to the mobile device. The upsell ad, a cross-sell ad, anupsell offer, and/or a cross-sell offer 560 may be displayed on thedisplay of the user receiving device and/or the display of the mobiledevice. An upsell and/or cross-sell response signal 562 may betransmitted from the mobile device 510 to one or more of the backenddevices 500, 502, 504, 506, 508. The upsell and/or cross-sell responsesignal 562 may indicate that the customer accepts and/or declines theone or more upsell and/or cross-sell products and/or services.

Although in FIGS. 6 and 8, a certain number of signals are shownadditional signals may be communicated between the mobile device 510 andone or more of the backend devices. For example, the viewer may requestadditional information about one or more products, which may be providedby one or more of the backend devices.

A confirmation request 564 may be generated by any one of the productand/or service provider 500, the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508and may be sent to any one of the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508,and the mobile device 510. A confirmation response 566 may then begenerated by any one of the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508, and themobile device 510 and may be sent to any one of the product and/orservice provider 500, the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508. Theconfirmation request 564 and the confirmation response 566 may be sentdirectly between the providers and devices 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, 510or may be indirectly sent by intermediary ones of the providers and/ordevices forwarding the confirmation request 564 and/or confirmationresponse 566. The confirmation request and response 564, 566 may confirmpurchasing of one or more products and/or services, which may includeone or more upsell and/or cross-sell products and/or services.

FIG. 9 shows a sequence diagram illustrating anotherupselling/cross-selling method. The upselling and cross-selling methodis similar to the method of FIG. 8, but includes separate confirmationrequests and responses for different offers being accepted.

A first offer signal 570 indicates the offer being presented to the userreceiving device 508 and/or the mobile device 510 and is transmitted tothe payment service provider 502. The payment service provider 502 maythen interact with the user receiving device 508 and/or mobile device510 to perform a transaction. A second offer signal 572, in the form ofan ad and/or offer request, may be transmitted from the product and/orservice provider 500 to the advertiser 504. The ad and/or offer requestmay include an offer for a product and/or service and may be a requestto the advertiser 504 to generate an advertisement (referred to as an“ad”) including the offer. The ad may be generated by the advertiser504. The ad and/or offer (designated 574) may be transmitted from theadvertiser 504 to the content provider 506, which may then forwarded tothe user receiving device 508 and/or mobile device 510.

The ad and/or offer 574 may then be displayed on a display of the userreceiving device 508 and/or the mobile device 510. The ad and/or offer574 may be displayed prior to, during and/or subsequent to a programand/or video being displayed on the user receiving device 508 and/ormobile device 510. The ad and/or offer 574 may be superimposed on theprogram and/or video being displayed.

The user may respond to the offer via the mobile device 510 by providinga user input to accept and/or request additional information regardingthe offer. The mobile device 510 may generate an offer response 576,which may be transmitted to the user receiving device 508, contentprovider 506, advertiser, 504, payment service provider 502, and/orproduct and/or service provider 500. The offer response 576 may beoriginated at the mobile device 510 and may be forwarded to the userreceiving device 508, content provider 506, advertiser, 504, paymentservice provider 502, and/or product and/or service provider 500.

A confirmation request 578 may be generated by any one of the productand/or service provider 500, the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508and may be sent to any one of the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508,and the mobile device 510. A confirmation response 580 may then begenerated by any one of the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508, and themobile device 510 and may be sent to any one of the product and/orservice provider 500, the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508. Theconfirmation request 578 and the confirmation response 580 may be sentdirectly between the providers and devices 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, 510or may be indirectly sent by intermediary ones of the providers and/ordevices forwarding the confirmation request 578 and/or confirmationresponse 580. The confirmation request and response 578, 580 may confirmpurchasing of one or more products and/or services.

An upsell ad, a cross-sell ad, an upsell offer, and/or a cross-selloffer (collectively designated 590) may be transmitted from one or moreof the back end devices 500, 502, 504, 506 to the user receiving device508 and/or the mobile device 510. The user receiving device 508 maytransmit the upsell ad, a cross-sell ad, an upsell offer, and/or across-sell offer 590 to the mobile device 510. The upsell ad, across-sell ad, an upsell offer, and/or a cross-sell offer 590 may bedisplayed on the display of the user receiving device 508 and/or thedisplay of the mobile device 510. An upsell and/or cross-sell responsesignal 592 may be transmitted from the mobile device 510 to one or moreof the backend devices 500, 502, 504, 506, 508. The upsell and/orcross-sell response signal 592 may indicate that the customer acceptsand/or declines the one or more upsell and/or cross-sell products and/orservices.

A confirmation request 594 may be generated by any one of the productand/or service provider 500, the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508and may be sent to any one of the payment service provider 502, theadvertiser 504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508,and the mobile device 510. A confirmation response 596 may then begenerated by any one of the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508, and themobile device 510 and may be sent to any one of the product and/orservice provider 500, the payment service provider 502, the advertiser504, the content provider 506, the user receiving device 508. Theconfirmation request 594 and the confirmation response 596 may be sentdirectly between the providers and devices 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, 510or may be indirectly sent by intermediary ones of the providers and/ordevices forwarding the confirmation request 594 and/or confirmationresponse 596. The confirmation request 596 and response 564, 566 mayconfirm purchasing of one or more products and/or services, which mayinclude one or more upsell and/or cross-sell products and/or services.Although in FIG. 9, a certain number of transaction signals are shownadditional transaction signals may be communicated between the mobiledevice 510 and one or more of the backend devices.

In the above-described methods of FIGS. 6-9, the mobile device 510 maycommunicate indirectly with one or more of the backend devices 500, 502,504, 506, via the user receiving device 508 or may communicate directlywith the one or more backend devices 500, 502, 504, 506 to obtaininformation regarding products and/or services, accept offers, and/or tocomplete transactions. The same or separate windows and/or displayscreens may be presented to a customer via the user receiving deviceand/or the mobile device to accept and/or confirm offers.

Marketing is effective when there are up-sells (or selling to the samecustomer more of the same product or service, selling additionalfeatures for the same product or service, upgrading the same product orservice, and/or selling additional products and/or services) andcross-sells (or selling a product or service similar to a product orservice purchased by the customer). The above-disclosed embodimentsprovide targeted ads (or ads which cater to targeted audiences based oncustomer demographic, psychographic, and viewing data). Theabove-disclosed embodiments present up-sell or cross-sell ads andcorresponding offers in a particular (or predetermined) sequence after aviewer initiates an initial transaction and/or inquires about a productor service.

As an example, a viewer that sees an advertisement on a display of auser receiving device and/or mobile device for pizza due to a targetedad may “click” and accept an offer for the pizza via the user receivingdevice and/or mobile device. An order for the pizza may be sent via theinternet or other network to a content service provider (e.g.,DirecTV®). The content service provider may then verify and fulfill theorder by contacting the provider, vendor, and/or business offering thepizza (or other product and/or service). In addition to offering thepizza, a targeted ad may be provided for other related products, such asbuffalo wings. This may be based on the customer's history indicatingthat the customer likes buffalo wings. The provider, vendor, and/orbusiness offering the pizza may be the same or different than theprovider, vendor and/or business offering the buffalo wings. Thecustomer may decline or accept the upsell or cross-sell offer presentedto the customer.

The disclosed embodiments allow a user receiving device to offer upselland/or cross-sell ads to the customer based on a currently purchasedand/or inquired about products and/or services. The upselling andcross-selling provide: a better customer experience; additional profitpotential for a content, product and/or service providers (eitherthrough increased ad revenues and/or commissions) by building upon abuyer whose already in a purchasing mood; metrics regarding customerspurchasing habits (which feeds into targeted ads and provides anindication of what ads work or not); and better relations withadvertisers as tracking and metrics may be shared. The metrics allowadvertisers to measure customer responses to direct marketing. Thecommissions may be provided from, for example, an advertiser and/or aproduct and/or service provider to a content service provider sendingthe corresponding ads and offers to customers. This provides increasedrevenue for the content service provider.

As an example, a user with a remote control (or mobile device) sees anad and an offer being displayed on a display. If the user decides toaccept the offer, the user may click on the mobile device to signal auser receiving device to begin a transaction. The user receiving deviceinteracts with a server, which links the user to an advertiser. The userreceiving device and/or the server fulfills an order or schedulesfulfillment of the order by sending transaction information, receivinguser confirmations, and displaying confirmation messages to the user.

Targeted ads refer to ads preselected to match data for a particularuser based on demographic, psychographic, and/or viewing habits of theuser and whatever ‘selects’ (to use the direct response marketing term)characterize the user. Transactions may be interrupted prior to beingconfirmed to present a user with additional offers. The user sees atargeted ad, is presented an offer, and clicks to accept the offer.However, instead of immediately handling and confirming thetransactions, the user is shown another targeted ad with an upsell offeror a cross-sell offer. If the upsell offer or cross-sell offer isaccepted, then the initial transaction may be accepted or dropped. Ifdropped, the upsell or cross-sell is processed and confirmed by theuser. If the initial offer is accepted, then the initial offer and theupsell or cross-sell offer is processed and confirmed by the user. As analternative, after an initial offer and corresponding transaction isconfirmed, an additional offer may be presented to the user. The usersees a targeted ad, is presented an offer, and clicks to accept theoffer and the transaction is handled as expected. However, after theconfirmation of the initially accepted offer is confirmed, the user isshown another targeted ad with an upsell offer or a cross-sell offer. Ifthe upsell or cross-sell offer is accepted, then another transactioncorresponding to the upsell or cross-sell offer is processed andconfirmed by the user. Other sequences of ads, offers, transactions, andconfirmations of the transactions may be performed.

The systems disclosed herein may be operated using numerous methods, anexample method is illustrated in FIG. 10. Although the following tasksof FIG. 10 are primarily described with respect to the implementationsof FIGS. 1-9, the tasks may be easily modified to apply to otherimplementations of the present disclosure. The tasks may be iterativelyperformed and may be implemented via software and/or hardwarecorresponding to the disclosed modules. In FIG. 10, a product alertingmethod is shown. Although the tasks of FIG. 10 are described withrespect to certain modules, servers and/or devices, the tasks of FIG. 10may be performed by control modules and/or other modules of a mobiledevice, a user receiving device, a content provider, a head end, acontent service provider, an advertiser, a product and/or serviceprovider, and/or other device. The mobile device, user receiving deviceand content provider described below with respect to the tasks of FIG.10 may refer to any mobile device, user receiving device and/or contentprovider disclosed herein.

The method may begin at 600. At 602, a content service provider (or headend) receives and/or accesses a video file from one or more otherbackend devices (e.g., advertiser server and/or product and/or serviceprovider server). The video file may be received from an advertiserand/or accessed from a server (e.g., the cloud server 68 of FIG. 1). Thevideo file may be provided to a video processing module (e.g., the videoprocessing module 219 of FIG. 2).

At 604, the video processing module analyzes a current frame of thevideo file including performing image recognition and filtering todetect objects in the frame. Algorithms may be executed to detect andfilter the objects. The algorithms may be performed in order to distillpurchasable object metadata from the current frame and/or video stream.The video processing module may include filters and/or may access afilter database and/or an object database to filter each frame of thevideo file and detect the objects in the frames. The video processingmodule may compare portions of each frame to objects included in theobject database. The filter database and the object database may bestored in memory (e.g., the memories 340, 482 of FIGS. 3 and 5 or in amemory of the cloud server 68 of FIG. 1). Examples of a filter database343 and an object database 345 are shown in FIG. 3.

At 606, the video processing module determines whether an object hasbeen detected. If an object has been detected in the current frame, task608 is performed. Task 604 may be performed until a determination ismade that no object is in the current frame and/or until a predeterminedperiod of time has lapsed. Although not shown in FIG. 10, if no objectis detected in the frame, task 612 may be performed subsequent to task606.

At 608, the video processing module may generate metadata for theobjects detected in the current frame (or image). The metadata mayinclude: a timestamp of a start of the current frame; objectidentifiers; object edge descriptions; a stop (or end) timestamp of thecurrent frame; locations dimensions, and/or other information describingthe detected objects. The object edge descriptions may include datadescribing edges of detected objects in the current frame and mayinclude coordinate drawing vectors. At 610, the metadata provided at 604and/or generated at 608 is stored as a metadata file in memory (e.g.,memory 216 of FIG. 2).

At 612, the video processing module may determine whether there isanother frame in the video stream to process. If there is another frameto process, task 604 is performed, otherwise task 614 is performed.Tasks 604-612 may be repeated for each frame of a video stream.

At 614, the video stream (or video file) and the metadata file aretransmitted from the head end (or other back end device) to a userreceiving device and/or the mobile device and/or to a memory accessibleto the user receiving device and/or the mobile device. The video fileand metadata file may be transmitted via a satellite, the Internetand/or other network. The video file and metadata file may betransmitted via a wireless network and/or a wired network. The videofile and the metadata file may be transmitted as a single file and/orsignal or as separate files and/or signals.

At 616, the video file and metadata file are received at the userreceiving device and/or the mobile device. At 618, the user receivingdevice and/or the mobile device may separate the metadata from the videofile depending upon how the metadata and the video file weretransmitted.

At 620, the user receiving device or the mobile device plays out thevideo of the video file on a display while incrementing through (ormonitoring) metadata based on location information (e.g., a currentframe number) of the video being shown. At 622, a metadata module (e.g.,one of the metadata modules 420, 466 of FIGS. 5-6) monitors the metadatato detect upcoming objects in key frames of the video file. This mayinclude identifying key frames with purchasable objects based on objectinformation included in the metadata. The key frames refer to framesthat include objects (i.e. products and/or service indicators that arepurchasable).

At 624, the metadata module determines whether an upcoming object in akey frame is detected. The detected object may be in a current key framebeing displayed or may be in a subsequent key frame that has not yetbeen displayed. If an upcoming object is detected, task 626 isperformed. If no purchasable objects are detected in any of the framesof the video file, the method may end at 638.

At 626, an image module (e.g., one of the image modules 417, 463 ofFIGS. 4-5) may alter one or more portions of the frame (or image) beingdisplayed and/or may superimpose a graphical image over the one or moreportions of the frame being displayed to alert a viewer of respectivelyone or more purchasable objects. This may include highlighting,underlining, outlining, changing color, shading, patterning, adjusting acorresponding gray-scale, and/or animating the one or more portions ofthe frame. The altering may also or alternatively include causing theone or more portions of the image or a portion of the one or moreportions to blink. Each of the one or portions of the frame may bealtered the same or differently. The animation may include superimposingmoving sparkles, arrows, or other items on or near the one or moreobjects. The altering of the image may include changing a contrast ratioor optically filtering the one or more portions of the image. While theone or more portions of the image are altered, the other portions of theimage may remain the same or may also be altered to make the one or moreportions more noticeable. For example, a grey scale or contrast ratio ofthe remaining portions of the image may be altered to dim or partiallyfade out the remaining portions of the image thereby making the one ormore portions of the image more pronounced.

As an example, FIG. 11 shows a product alerting system 650 that includesa display 652, a user receiving device 654, and a mobile device 656. Theuser receiving device 654 may display an image 658 on the display 652.The image 658 may include an object 660 (e.g., a soda drink), which maybe highlighted or altered such that the soda drink appears to beglowing, as shown. The image altering may be provided using graphicsframeworks software and/or a cross-language, multi-platform applicationprogramming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics(e.g., OpenGL® software). As shown, an illumination ring 662 is providedover edges of the object 660. The illumination ring and/or otheraltercations may be provided based on previously performed imagerecognition, object edge detection, and/or generated metadataindicating: which frame the object is located; dimensions and/or sizesof the object; the location of the object in the frame; and/or otherobject related information. The image module may superimpose theillumination ring 662 by using the edge detection metadata as areference to trace an outer edge of the object. The superimposing ofgraphical items over an image allows a user to see a purchasable objectwithout affecting a program and/or video being watched.

At 628, if the viewer is interested in one of the objects beingdisplayed, the viewer may via the mobile device: highlight and/or clickon the object; click a button on the mobile device; tap on or perform aswipe action on the image being displayed on the mobile device; tap onor perform a swipe action on the portion of the image that includes theobject; click on an item in a menu being displayed on the user receivingdevice and/or mobile device; and/or perform another action to select theobject. The user receiving device and/or the mobile device generates arequest signal based on the input generated due to the viewer'sselection. The request signal may be: transmitted from the mobile deviceto the user receiving device; forwarded from the user receiving deviceto a backend device (a payment provider, an advertiser, a product and/orservice provider, a network server, etc.); and/or transmitted from theuser receiving device or the mobile device to the backend device.

The objects selected by the viewer may be stored in memory (e.g., one ofthe memories 340, 482 of FIGS. 3 and 5 or in the cloud server 68 ofFIG. 1) and later accessed by the user receiving device and/or themobile device and viewed by the viewer. For example, in one embodiment,at the end of a program and/or video being watched, the user ispresented by the mobile device and/or the user receiving device with oneor more menus and/or dialogue windows (e.g., the dialogue windows ofFIGS. 12-13). The menus and/or dialogue windows provide additionalinformation regarding the selected objects and/or allow the viewer topurchase the one or more selected objects. The storing of the selectedobjects may include storing object identifiers, advertiser information,program and/or video information identifying the program and/or videobeing watched, and/or other information pertaining to the program and/orvideo may be stored. This may also include storing the frame number ofthe program and/or video. The saving of the objects, allows customers tosave items of interest without completely diverting the customersattention away from a program and/or video being watched to a secondscreen device (e.g., the display of the mobile device). The customers nolonger need to look items up on-line that are seen in a program and/orvideo, but rather can review saved items and/or proceed to purchase thesaved items via the mobile device and/or user receiving device, asdescribed herein. The items may be saved from any digital platformproviding the disclosed capabilities. A customer may browse the saveditems and/or other related information, features and products at thecustomer's convenience.

The generation and transmitting of the request signal may: trigger apurchase; initiate a transaction for a purchase; initiate transmissionof information about the object; trigger display of an offer; and/ortrigger a dialogue window (example dialogue windows are shown in FIGS.12-13) to open. The generation and transmitting of the request signalmay trigger upselling and/or cross-selling of additional features and/orother products and/or services.

In one embodiment, a single click and/or swipe on or over the object maytrigger a sale. Backend devices may then arrange for the object to bepurchased and delivered to the customer. This allows an item to bepurchased through minimal interaction with the viewer.

Following task 628, various tasks may be performed to provide the viewerwith additional information and/or to carry out and confirm the purchaseof one or more products and/or services, as described above with respectto FIGS. 6-9 and as described further below. Various dialogue windowsmay be opened including the dialogue windows of FIGS. 12-13. The user,in order to start and complete a transaction, the user may interact withthe user receiving device and/or the mobile device in a guided sequenceof steps using the mobile device and on-screen menus and/or dialoguewindows. The guided sequence of steps guide the user through: selectingvarious products, features, and/or services; providing variousinformation if needed; and completing a purchase.

At 630, the dialogue windows of FIGS. 12-13 and/or other dialoguewindows may be opened. FIG. 12 shows a dialogue purchasing window 631,which includes purchasing information, such as price per unit, quantityof units being purchased, product details, product reviews, an image ofthe product, etc. The dialogue purchasing window may include “back”and/or “continue” buttons. The back button may return the viewer to thevideo being watched. The continue button may direct the viewer to thedialogue confirmation window 633 of FIG. 13. The dialogue confirmationwindow 633 may include confirmation information including a price totalfor the objects being purchased, a total number of objects beingpurchased, customer information, billing information, paymentinformation, etc. The dialogue confirmation window may include an imageof the object(s) being purchase, a “back” button and a “confirm” button.The back button may return the viewer to the dialogue purchasing windowand/or the video being watched. The confirm button may confirm andcomplete the transaction and then return the viewer to the video beingwatched.

At 632, upon receiving a confirmation from the viewer via the mobiledevice, a confirmation signal is generated. The confirmation signal maybe transmitted from the user receiving device and/or the mobile deviceto one or more of the backend devices.

At 634, purchase information may be transferred between the userreceiving device and one or more of the other backend devices to fulfillthe order. This may include transferring the information displayed inthe dialogue windows and/or other related information (e.g., secureinformation not shown in the dialogue windows). Secure information mayinclude, for example, personal information such as a customer name,account numbers, a driver license number, a social security number, dateof birth, etc. The backend devices then schedule delivery of thepurchase products.

At 636, a confirmation response signal may be generated and transmittedto the user receiving device and/or the mobile device to indicate to thecustomer that the sale is completed. An email and/or text message may besent to an email account of the customer and/or to the mobile device toprovide a receipt of the sale to the customer. The method may end at638.

In one embodiment, if the viewer selects too many objects (more than apredetermined number within a predetermined period of time) or the userreceiving device and/or mobile device receive too many request signals(more than a predetermined number in a predetermined period) forobjects, then one or more of the above-described tasks may not beperformed. This indicates that the viewer is not actually selecting theobjects and/or that an error has occurred. As an example, one or more oftasks 622-636 may not be performed and/or the object information may notbe saved.

In one embodiment, a pop-up window or icon may be displayed at an end ofa program and/or video to remind the viewer of the objects saved duringplayout of the program and/or video. In another embodiment, the vieweris presented with guided questions to determine what products, features(or accessories), and/or services the viewer is interested in and tomake sure that the viewer is purchasing the correct items. Thesequestions may be asked prior to the viewer accepting and confirming apurchase. The control modules of the user receiving device and/or mobiledevice may display the questions on corresponding displays.

FIG. 14 shows a user receiving device 700 illustrating a program andadvertising output. The user receiving device 700 may replace and/or beimplemented as any of the other user receiving devices disclosed herein.The user receiving device 700 may include a decoder 702, a demultiplexer704, an advertisement module 706 and an output module 708. The decoder702 decodes an encoded video stream and an encoded audio stream receivedfrom a wireless and/or wired network. The encoded video stream mayinclude object (product and/or service) information including ads and/oradvertisement information and/or offers for one or more objects in thevideo stream. The object information may be in a moving pictures expertgroup (MPEG)-2 transport stream (TS) packet. An example of a format of aMPEG-2 TS packet is shown in FIG. 17. The object information may includeprices of products and/or services, descriptions of products and/orservices, uniform resource locators (URLs) corresponding to websites ofthe products and/or services, display times (e.g., frame ID numbers) ofthe products and/or services, display durations of the products and/orservices, and secondary order information.

The decoder 702 outputs a decoded video stream and object information tothe demultiplexer 704 and decoded audio data to the output module 708.The demultiplexer 704 separates the object information from the decodedvideo stream (or decoded video file). The video file may be of aprogram, an ad, a PPV video, and/or other video. The encoded videostream may be decoded and demultiplexed such that the video andcorresponding offers are synchronized such that the offers are displayedat appropriate times relative to frames of the video.

The advertisement module 706, based on the object information, maygenerate one or more offers. The video file and the offers may beprovided to the output module 708. The output module 708 may display thevideo file and the offers over the images of the video being played outon the display 710. The offers may be displayed as, for example, bannersover the video being played out. The object information indicates whenand for how long the offers should be displayed. This may be based onthe timing and duration information of the corresponding productsprovided in the object information. An example banner is shown in FIG.16. As an alternative, a portion of the image may be altered asdescribed above. As an example, if the user clicks on or performs aswipe gesture on the image, a window (e.g., one of the dialogue windowsdisclosed herein or a URL window) may be opened on the display 710 ofthe user receiving device 700 to allow the viewer to purchase theselected items. URL window may be for a site of the company offering theproduct and may be similar to a URL window that is displayed on acomputer and/or mobile device.

As an example, a movie being displayed on the display 710 may show anactor wearing a bracelet. The image of the bracelet may be alteredand/or an offer may be displayed for the bracelet. The viewer clicks onthe bracelet, performs a swipe gesture on the mobile device, clicks abutton on the mobile device and/or performs another action to indicateto the mobile device that the viewer is interested in the product. AnMPEG-2 TS packet of the movie may have a private section of data thatincludes a URL (or web address) for the bracelet. The user receivingdevice may open a window for a website associated with the URL to allowthe viewer to view the bracelet and/or other products and purchase thebracelet. This may be accomplished via an Internet connection of theuser receiving device. In addition to the offer, a description dialoguewindow (or box) may be superimposed over the movie. The private sectionof data may (i) indicate to the user receiving device when and how longto display the description dialogue window, and (ii) include adescription to include in the description dialogue window. The user mayclick on the product, the offer window, the description window, and/or abutton on the screen to show interest in the product. The movie may thenbe paused and the viewer may be presented with a URL website for theproduct and/or company that sells the product.

Types and styles of the dialogue, offer, and description windowsdisclosed herein may be adjusted via a settings window. The settingsassociated with the settings window may be stored in the memory of theuser receiving device and adjusted by a user. For example, a user mayadjust the sizes of the windows and/or where on a display the windowsare to be shown. The windows may include thumbnails for selecting and/orviewing products and/or services. In one embodiment, the windows areshown as thumbnails over the movie, video and/or program being watchedand are selectable.

FIG. 15 shows a sequence diagram of another advertising and purchasingmethod. The tasks performed in the sequence diagram may be performed bya product and/or service provider 720, a payment service provider 722,an advertiser 724, a content provider and/or head end 726, a userreceiving device 728 and/or a mobile device 730 (or computer). A productand/or service may be offered by the product and/or service provider 720(e.g., the product and/or service provider 54 of FIG. 1). In the exampleshown, this is represented by offer signals that may be initiated at,originated by, and/or transmitted from the product and/or serviceprovider 720 to the payment service provider 722 (e.g., the paymentservice provider 56 of FIG. 1), the advertiser 724 (e.g., the advertiser58 of FIG. 1), the content provider 726 (e.g., the content provider 14and/or the head end 12 of FIG. 1), the user receiving device 728 (e.g.,one of the user receiving devices 30 of FIG. 1) and/or a mobile device730 (e.g., one of the mobile devices 31 of FIG. 1).

A first offer signal 732 indicates the offer being presented to the userreceiving device 728 and/or the mobile device 730 and is transmitted tothe payment service provider 722. The payment service provider 722 isthen able to interact with the user receiving device 728 and/or mobiledevice 730 to perform a transaction. A second offer signal 734, in theform of an offer request, may be transmitted from the product and/orservice provider 720 to the advertiser 724. The offer request mayinclude an offer for a product and/or service and may be a request tothe advertiser 724 and/or content provider 726 to generate and/or outputa video, a program, an ad, etc. and object information. The video,object information and offer are designated 736 and transmitted from thecontent provider 726 to the user receiving device 728. The video andoffer are displayed on a display connected to the user receiving device.

The object information may include a unique identifier for the objectbeing offered. The video, object information, and/or offer may bebroadcast from the content provider to the user receiving device 728.The identifier may be paired with a corresponding ad, video, program,offer, offer banner, etc. and stored in memory of the user receivingdevice 728.

The user may respond via the mobile device 730 to the offer beingpresented using various techniques disclosed herein. The mobile device730 may generate an information request signal 740, which may betransmitted to one or more of the backend devices 720, 722, 724, 726and/or 728. This triggers purchasing actions and/or a transaction to beinitiated. The user may be presented with dialogue windows, whichcontain detailed information of the products and/or services beingoffered, discounts based on region of the user receiving device, as wellas additional customer and vendor specific parameters. The customerswill be able to quickly purchase the product of interest by selectingpreset and displayed or referenced shipping address and credit cardinformation previously stored in a customer database of a contentprovider (or broadcaster of the video).

Product and/or service information including customer-specific offers742 may be transmitted back to the user receiving device 728 and/or themobile device 730 for display to the viewer via respective displays ofthe user receiving device 728 and/or the mobile device 730. Interactionbuttons as described above or other user input items may be displayedfor the viewer to accept one or more of the offers presented.

The mobile device 730 may then generate an acceptance response 742 whenthe viewer provides an input to the mobile device 730 indicatingacceptance of one or more of the offers presented. The acceptanceresponse signal may be transmitted to one or more of the backend devices720, 722, 724, 726, 728.

A confirmation request 750 may be generated by any one of the productand/or service provider 720, the payment service provider 722, theadvertiser 724, the content provider 726, the user receiving device 728and may be sent to any one of the payment service provider 722, theadvertiser 724, the content provider 726, the user receiving device 728,and the mobile device or computer 730. A confirmation response 752 maythen be generated by any one of the payment service provider 722, theadvertiser 724, the content provider 726, the user receiving device 728,and the mobile device or computer 730 and may be sent to any one of theproduct and/or service provider 720, the payment service provider 722,the advertiser 724, the content provider 726, the user receiving device728. The confirmation request 750 and the confirmation response 752 maybe sent directly between the providers and devices 720, 722, 724, 726,728, 730 or may be indirectly sent by intermediary ones of the providersand/or devices forwarding the confirmation request 750 and/orconfirmation response 752.

The above-described method allows a viewer to be able to obtain detailedproduct information quickly via the user receiving device 728 instead ofhaving to go elsewhere to find out more about a product and/or service.The viewer is able to then make quick purchases via the mobile device730. This approach can be especially effective on impulse buyers. Thismethod also allows a content provider and/or other backend device tohave unique knowledge of a customer, which can then be used to offerspecial product and/or service deals. This may be based on specificparameters such as location of the user receiving device, personalinterests of the customer, and/or television viewing preferences. Thecontent provider operates as a sales channel for product and/or servicevendors. Extra value is provided to traditional television based ads,such that quick inquiries and purchases of products and services canoccur via user receiving devices. Convincing sales pitches may beprovided to potential buyers since the products and/or services may beshown in the context of a show, program, and/or video, which can providean emotional effect on a viewer.

FIG. 16 shows an advertising and purchasing diagram illustratingcorresponding display screens. In a first display screen 758 of adisplay 760 of a user receiving device, a video 762 is shown and anoffer 764. A user may click on the offer to inquire about a productand/or service being offered and/or to accept the offer. For theembodiments disclosed herein, the ads, offers, descriptions, transactionbuttons, interface items, etc. may be (i) displayed anywhere on ascreen, a video, and/or a preview video being played out and/or (ii)integrated in the video and/or the preview video.

In a second display screen 765 of the display 760, a downsized versionof the video and a guide 766 are shown. The guide 766 includes times forprograms and offer buttons 767 or other offer indicators. The offerbuttons may be provided for programs in which offers are available. Theoffers may be for products and/or services shown in the program and/ormay be for the program itself. Programs and/or videos that includepurchasable objects may be referred to as spot-enabled programs.

In a third display screen 759 of the display 760, a descriptioninformation window 770, an image of the product 772, a price per unit774, and a “buy” button 776 are shown for example purposes only. After aviewer clicks on the offer 764 and/or one of the offer buttons in theguide 766, the third screen may be presented to the viewer. Thedescription information window 770 may include a description of theproduct and/or service being purchased. The third screen 759 may includeother product and/or service information.

In a fourth display screen 780, shipping, billing and/or paymentinformation is shown. After the viewer clicks on the buy button 776, thefourth screen 780 may be presented to the viewer. The fourth screen 780may include a shipping window 782 and a billing and/or payment window784. The shipping window 782 includes shipping information, such ascustomer address information. The billing and/or purchasing window 784may include account information to which one of the backend devices maybill the customer for the purchased product and/or service.

FIG. 17 illustrates a MPEG-2 TS packet format. The MPEG-2 TS packetformat may include various fields, such as a table ID field 800, asection index indicator field 802, a private indicator field 804, areserved bits field 806, a private section length field 808, a table IDextension field 810, a version number field 812, a current nextindicator field 814, a section number field 816, a last section numberfield 818, a N private data field 820, and cyclical redundancy check(CRC) bits field 822. The N private data field 820 may include N bitsand other fields, such as a unique ID field 824, a title field 826, adisplay start time field 828, a display end time field 830, a pricefield 832, a URL field 834, a display duration field 836, secondaryorder method (or information) field 838, a description field 840, a nextevent indicator field 842 and a private data CRC field 844. If thecorresponding user receiving device is not connected to the Internet,cannot communicate with a satellite, and/or is unable to communicateback to a service provider via another network, the secondary orderinformation may provide, for example, a phone number to call and/or aURL of a website to place an order. The corresponding mobile device maythen be used to make a phone call and/or open the website to place theorder and/or inquire about the corresponding product and/or serviceavailable for purchase. The secondary order information field 838 mayindicate a type of secondary method to use to place the order and/orinquire about the product and/or service. The display times and/ordurations 828, 830, 836 may be in units-of-measure associated with avideo (e.g., a MPEG video), such as a frame number and/or quantity offrames. The display times and/or durations 828, 830, 836 may be based ontimestamp increments of the video.

As an example, a movie being played out may show an actor wearing abracelet. The private data, provided with the frames of video showingthe actor wearing the bracelet, may contain the data with the URL for awebsite to purchase the bracelet. The private data has information ofwhen to present a dialogue window (having a description that defines thepurchasable product) on a display and how log to present the dialoguewindow. The dialogue window may have buttons for inquiring about theproduct. If a user clicks on a button to inquire about the product, thevideo may be paused and a browser (e.g., Internet browser) may be openedfor the URL on a display of a user receiving device, a mobile device,and/or computer. The user may then purchase the product by interactingwith the user receiving device, a mobile device, and/or computer.

The N private data field 820 and/or the private data CRC field 836 mayinclude private section information, as described above. The privatesection information may indicate to a user receiving device when and howlong to display a description dialogue window and an offer. The privatesection information may also include a product and/or servicedescription to include in a dialogue window. The private sectioninformation may indicate locations in frames and/or timing (e.g.,identifiers of key frames) of products and/or services in videos.

The systems disclosed herein may be operated using numerous methods, anexample method is illustrated in FIG. 18. Although the following tasksof FIG. 18 are primarily described with respect to the implementationsof FIGS. 1-17, the tasks may be easily modified to apply to otherimplementations of the present disclosure. The tasks may be iterativelyperformed and may be implemented via software and/or hardwarecorresponding to the disclosed modules. In FIG. 18, a shopping networkrecognition method is shown. Although the tasks of FIG. 18 are describedwith respect to certain modules, servers and/or devices, the tasks ofFIG. 18 may be performed by control modules and/or other modules of amobile device, a user receiving device, a content provider, a head end,a content service provider, an advertiser, a product and/or serviceprovider, and/or other device. The mobile device, user receiving deviceand content provider described below with respect to the tasks of FIG.18 may refer to any mobile device, user receiving device and/or contentprovider disclosed herein.

The method may begin at 850. Although the following tasks are primarilydescribed with respect to a shopping network, an infomercial, and/orchannel, the following tasks may be applied to other program networksand/or channels. At 852, a user via a mobile device and/or a userreceiving device may select a shopping and/or sales program, aninfomercial, and/or a shopping network (or channel). An example of ashopping network is the Home Shopping Network (HSN®). This may includethe mobile device receiving an input from the user and generating achannel selection signal. The channel selection signal may betransmitted from the mobile device to the user receiving device. Theuser receiving device may then select and/or tune to the selectedchannel. The user receiving device may then display the channel on adisplay connected to the user receiving device. FIG. 19 shows a screen853 on a display 855 illustrating an example program on a shoppingnetwork channel.

At 854, the channel being viewed on the display of the user receivingdevice may display a product and/or service that is being offered forsale and the corresponding offer (e.g., price, quantity, hourly rate, IDnumber of product or service, description of product or service,shipping and handling costs, etc.). Displaying a service refers todisplaying information and/or a description pertaining to the servicebeing offered. The offer may be shown in an offer box (or window). Anexample offer box 857 is shown in FIG. 19.

At 856, the user receiving device (or module thereof) performs imagerecognition on the images (or frames) of the program being displayed todetect the offer box and/or contents shown in the offer box and/or otherdisplayed information. As an example, this may be performed by a controlmodule, a transaction module and/or an image recognition module of theuser receiving device. This allows the user receiving device to detectinformation regarding a product and/or service being offered for sale.The determination of whether a product and/or service is being offeredfor sale may also be based on other information, such as: the channelbeing watched; a time of day; a layout, style, font, and/or location ofa screen that the offer box is located; other information displayed onthe screen; etc. The other information may include, for example, anumber (or quantity) of a product and/or a service contract that remainavailable to purchase, a phone number, a remaining amount of timeavailable to purchase the product and/or service, a number (or quantity)sold of the product and/or service, etc.

At 858, the control module or other module of the user receiving devicedetermines whether there is a purchasing interface available between theuser receiving device and a backend device to allow a transaction forthe item being offered for sale to be purchased. The purchasinginterface may refer to an interface between the user receiving deviceand one or more backend devices (e.g., an advertiser, a payment serviceprovider, and/or a product and/or service provider). The purchasinginterface may be available when a previous arrangement has been made toallow a user receiving device to communicate with the backend device toinitiate, verify, complete and confirm a transaction for the productand/or service being offered for sale.

At 860, if a purchasing interface is available, the control module orother module of the user receiving device may enable purchasing of theproduct and/or service by the user. This may include displaying acontrol window 859 having one or more control buttons 861, as shown inFIG. 19. The control buttons 861 may include a “Buy Now” button and“Back” button. Results of the image recognition performed at 856 and/orthe availability of the purchasing interface triggers the control window859 (or purchase scroll bar) to be opened.

The Buy Now button may open a dialogue window 863 (or pop-up screen) forpurchasing the product and/or service. The dialogue window 863 mayinclude and confirm purchasing details and allow the user to select apayment method. The Back button may close the control window 859. Anexample of the dialogue window 863 is shown in FIG. 20. The dialoguewindow 863 in FIG. 20 is shown as an order information window. Thedialogue window 863 may include a list of items being purchased,quantities of the items being purchased, and prices of the items beingpurchased. The dialogue window 863 may also include account informationand a confirm button 865. The order information window 863 may begenerated based on information from a payment service provider (e.g.,PayPal® or iPay™). An account number displayed and/or entered in theorder information window may be a customer unique account number for thepayment service provider.

At 862, if interested in the product and/or service, the user may clickon the Buy Now button or perform another action to triggering opening ofthe dialogue window. The mobile device may generate a purchase requestsignal based on the user input. The purchase request signal may betransmitted from the mobile device to the user receiving device. Thepurchase request signal may indicate to the user receiving device thatthe user is interested in the product and/or service being offered. Inanother embodiment, the user is able to highlight or move a cursor overthe Buy Now button and click via the mobile device on the Buy Nowbutton. The clicking, pressing a button on the mobile device, performinga swipe gesture on the mobile device, and/or performing other action onthe mobile device causes the mobile device to signal to the userreceiving device that the user is interested in the product and/orservice. If the user provides an input indicating interest in theproduct and/or service, task 864 is performed, otherwise task 854 may beperformed.

At 864, the control module, output module and/or other module of theuser receiving device opens and displays the dialogue window, which maybe shown next to the program being watched. To step forward to a moreinteractive experience, a payment service provider portal (or merchantonline payment service) may be opened as a window on the display of theuser receiving device to allow the user to quickly purchase items fromthe shopping network.

At 866, the user may interact with the dialogue window to cause apurchase request to be generated. This may include the user providingvarious inputs including: selecting products and/or services; quantitiesof the products; requesting additional information with respect to theproducts and/or services; selecting and/or entering billing and shippinginformation; selecting and/or entering payment information; and/orselecting, entering and/or requesting other information pertaining tothe products and/or services being offered for sale. The mobile deviceand/or the user receiving device may generate a purchase request, whichmay be stored and/or transmitted to one or more backend devices toindicate the information shown and agreed to by the user in the dialoguewindow. In one embodiment, the user may only need to enter a user name,a password, and/or answer one or more security questions to complete andconfirm the transaction. The security questions may be previouslyselected and/or input by the user via the mobile device and/or the userreceiving device.

At 868, the user may click on the Confirm button 865 to complete andconfirm an order via the mobile device. The mobile device may send: aconfirmation request signal to the user receiving device; a signalindicating the Confirm button has been clicked on; and/or other signalindicating that the order has been confirmed by the user. In anotherembodiment, the user is able to highlight or move a cursor over theConfirm button 865 and click via the mobile device on the Confirm button865. The clicking, pressing a button on the mobile device, performing aswipe gesture on the mobile device, and/or performing other action onthe mobile device causes the mobile device to signal to the userreceiving device that the user has confirmed the purchase. The methodmay end at 870.

In one embodiment, when the offer box and/or other information regardinga product and/or service is no longer being shown on the display of theuser receiving device, the user receiving device may remove the controlwindow and/or control buttons. This may be based on image recognition.The control window and/or the dialogue window may also be closed when anorder has been confirmed.

The above-described method may be performed via software and/or hardwarelocated on the user receiving device, the mobile device, and/or one ormore of the backend devices. The displaying of buttons to be clicked onby the user may be part of an application stored in the user receivingdevice, the mobile device, and/or may be integrated into the programbeing displayed.

The above-described method allows users to quickly purchase productsand/or services via user receiving devices and televisions based ontriggered image recognition rather than via special user interfaces peroffer. Instead of calling a vendor and/or a shopping network via atelephone and/or visiting a website of the vendor and/or shoppingnetwork via a computer, a user may purchase products and/or services viauser receiving devices while watching a corresponding program on atelevision. This serves as a solution to bring the vendor and user onestep closer to each other with a simple and secure solution. Byutilizing a payment service provided by a payment service provider,users do not have to input their personal data (e.g., credit cardnumber, social security number, address, etc.), as this information mayalready be stored at the payment service provider. The user may simplyprovide a user unique ID number and/or payment service provider accountnumber, which may be forwarded from the user receiving device and/or themobile device to the payment service provider for verification purposes.The payment service provider may then send a verification responsesignal back to the user receiving device and/or mobile device indicatingthat the user has been verified and is able to proceed with completingand confirming the purchase.

The above-described method may include a firmware/software program thatallows users to make their purchases from an application embedded intothe firmware/software program that is triggered by a module executingimage recognition software. The image recognition software is used tomonitor images being displayed and if information and/or objects aredetected that indicate a purchasable item is being displayed, then a setof criteria may be displayed on the television screen (such as an itemnumber, price, and period-to-purchase). The firmware/software programmay trigger purchase buttons to be displayed at the bottom (or otherpart) of the screen. Once the purchasable item(s) are no longerdisplayed, the application of the corresponding user receiving device ormobile device no longer displays the purchase buttons.

The systems disclosed herein may be operated using numerous methods, anexample method is illustrated in FIG. 21. Although the following tasksof FIG. 21 are primarily described with respect to the implementationsof FIGS. 1-20, the tasks may be easily modified to apply to otherimplementations of the present disclosure. The tasks may be iterativelyperformed and may be implemented via software and/or hardwarecorresponding to the disclosed modules. In FIG. 21, a spottedadvertising method is shown. Although the tasks of FIG. 21 are describedwith respect to certain modules, servers and/or devices, the tasks ofFIG. 21 may be performed by control modules and/or other modules of amobile device, a user receiving device, a content provider, a head end,a content service provider, an advertiser, a product and/or serviceprovider, and/or other device. The mobile device, user receiving deviceand content provider described below with respect to the tasks of FIG.21 may refer to any mobile device, user receiving device and/or contentprovider disclosed herein.

The method may begin at 900. At 902, a backend device (e.g., anadvertiser, a payment service provider, a content provider, and aproduct and/or service provider) may generate metadata. The metadata mayindicate where products, service indications, and/or ad information aredisplayed in a program and/or video. The metadata may include times(e.g., frame number) and/or locations in frames (or images) where theproducts, service indications, and/or ad information are shown. Theservice indications refer to items in a program and/or video, whichindicate a purchasable service. As a few examples, this may include: anactor or actress referring to a particular service; a family watching anad for a service and commenting on the service; a trademark for aparticular service company being shown; etc. The program and/or videomay, for example, include: a person drinking a beverage (which may bepurchasable); a person wearing a clothing article (which may bepurchasable); a person driving a certain vehicle (which may bepurchasable); etc. Various products and/or services may be shownthroughout a program and/or video which a viewer may be interested inpurchasing. The products and/or services may be shown or audible phrasesand/or indications may be heard during playout of the program and/orvideo with respect to the products and/or services. The video and/oraudio playout of images and/or indications are referred to herein as“spotted advertising”. A program and/or video that includes video and/oraudio playout of the images and/or indications for products and/orservices may be referred to respectively as “a spotted enabled program”and “a spotted enabled video”.

The following tasks 904, 906, 908 may be performed in a different orderand/or during a same period of time. At 904, the one or more backenddevices download the program, video and/or metadata to the userreceiving device and/or mobile device. The user receiving device and/ormobile device may then playout the program and/or video and monitor themetadata.

At 906, the user receiving device and/or mobile device may indicate to aviewer that the program and/or video is a spotted ad program or aspotted ad video. This may be done by displaying an icon, banner, and/orother indicator on a display of the user receiving device and/or themobile device. The indication may be superimposed over the programand/or video. The program and/or video may have an indicator integratedinto the program and/or video, which is displayed to the viewer duringplayout of the program and/or video. The user receiving device and/orthe mobile device may automatically enable spotted advertising and/orspotted advertising responses or the viewer may enable via the mobiledevice spotted advertising and/or spotted advertising responses. Certainspotted advertising may not be shown during playout of the programand/or video if spotted advertising is disabled. The user may open adialogue window on the mobile device and/or click on a button on themobile device to enable spotted advertising and/or spotted advertisingresponses. The enabling of spotted advertising responses allows a userto spot a product and/or service in a program and/or video and (i)indicate to a user receiving device and/or a backend device that theuser spotted the product and/or service, (ii) inquire about the productand/or service via the user receiving device and/or the mobile device,and/or (iii) purchase the product and/or service via the user receivingdevice and/or mobile device. Disabling spotted advertising responsesprevents a user from accidentally causing a spotted response to be sentfrom a mobile device to a user receiving device.

At 908, the program and/or video, if not already being displayed, may bedisplayed with spotted advertising. In one embodiment, a spottedadvertising window and/or corresponding buttons may be displayed on thedisplay of the user receiving device and/or on the mobile device toallow the user to click on a button and/or perform some other action toindicate detection of a spotted ad. In another embodiment, the user isable to highlight or move a cursor over an item in the program and/orvideo and click a button or perform some other action to select theitem.

At 910, the user receiving device and/or mobile device may determine alocation in a program and/or video of a spotted ad based on themetadata. The user receiving device and/or mobile device may alter aportion of an image, as described above, or provide some otherindication to the viewer that a spotted ad is being shown. This alertsthe viewer of the spotted ad. In one embodiment, no indication isprovided. This allows an advertiser to determine whether a user is ableto spot a spotted ad without an indication. Indications may be providedfor a period of time, as a teaching method, to teach a user of how andwhen spotted ads may be incorporated into a program and/or video.

The user receiving device and/or the mobile device may send and/orgenerate text messages, emails, and/or on-screen alerts. The textmessages, emails and/or alerts may be sent and/or generated prior toand/or during the program and/or video to indicate to the user that: theprogram and/or video includes spotted ads; the user missed a spotted ad;and/or certain spotted ads are being displayed. The text messages,emails, and/or alerts may be transmitted from the user receiving deviceto the mobile device. The text messages, emails, and/or alerts may askthe user whether the user is interested in the product and/or servicereferred to in the spotted ad that was missed.

At 912, the mobile device may generate a detection signal based on aninput from the viewer. The detection signal indicates that the viewerspotted a spotted ad in the program and/or video. The mobile device maytransmit the detection signal to the user receiving device.

At 914, the user receiving device may determine whether playout of theprogram and/or video is done. If the program and/or video is done, task918 is performed, otherwise task 916 may be performed.

At 916, ad detection information may be stored at the user receivingdevice, the mobile device, and/or in other memory accessible to the userreceiving device, the mobile device and/or a backend device. The othermemory may be, for example, the memory in the cloud server of FIG. 1.The detection information may include: a time within the program orvideo that the spotted ad is shown; a frame number in which the spottedad is located; a location (e.g., coordinates) within a frame (or image)of the program and/or video where the spotted ad is shown; a duration ofthe ad; a viewer ID number or other viewer information; a mobile deviceID number; an ID of the product and/or service shown; etc. The programand/or video may continue to playout while the detection information isstored.

At 918, the user receiving device and/or mobile device may open adialogue window to: allow the viewer to purchase the products and/orservices detected; allow the viewer to request and/or obtain additionalinformation with regard to the products and/or services detected and/orother related products and/or services; to select, enter, and/or confirmorder information; and/or present the viewer with a survey. The controlmodules of the user receiving device and/or mobile device may displaythe survey questions on corresponding displays. The survey may ask theviewer: about the program, video and/or spotted ads; likes and/ordislikes of the viewer with respect to the spotted ads; whether theviewer detected certain spotted ads; if the viewer has a preference asto whether spotted ads should be included in a program and/or video;and/or other questions. The questions directed to the spotted ads mayinquire about whether the ads were a deterrence, noticeable, enjoyable,or had no effect on the viewer's viewing experience.

At 920, the user receiving device and/or the mobile device may determinewhether the viewer is purchasing a product and/or service. If a productand/or service is being purchased, task 922 is performed, otherwise task926 may be performed. At 922, the user receiving device and/or mobiledevice may open a dialogue window (e.g., an order information window) toallow the user to select, enter and/or confirm order information.

At 924, the user receiving device and/or mobile device determineswhether a purchase is completed. Task 926 may be performed when thepurchase is completed. At 926, the user receiving device and/or mobiledevice determines whether the survey has been completed. Task 928 may beperformed when the survey has been completed. In one embodiment tasks918 and/or 928 are not performed (or skipped).

At 928, survey information may be recorded in memory. The memory may bein the user receiving device and/or mobile device and/or elsewhere(e.g., the memory in the cloud server). The survey information mayinclude the survey questions and the answers to the survey questions, asprovided by the viewer.

At 930, the user receiving device and/or mobile device may transmit thesurvey information to one or more backend devices for evaluationpurposes. As an example, an advertiser may cancel and/or modifypreviously generated spotted ads based on the answers to the surveyquestions. The advertiser may generate new spotted ads based on: theanswers to the survey questions; a history of programs watched by theuser; a history of products and/or services inquired about and/orpurchased by the user; demographics of the user; and/or data mining.Data mining may include searching for similar programs, videos,products, and/or services watched and/or purchased by other users in asame or similar demographic as the user. The advertiser may selectspotted ads to include based on the traffic and/or number of purchasesgenerated for that spotted ad by the user and/or other users. The methodmay end at 932.

The above-described method allows a user that while watching a programnotices an advertisement/product placement in the context of the programto indicate to a user receiving device detection of theadvertisement/product placement by the user. The user receiving deviceand/or mobile device may provide the user with: additional informationregarding the ad and/or product placement; other products; and an“award” for detecting one or more spotted ads and/or for completing asurvey. As an example, if the user detects a predetermined number ofspotted ads within a predetermined time period and/or within a programand/or video, the user may be provided with a discount on servicesprovided by the content provider and/or a discount on the product and/orservice being offered. This may be based on communication with a backenddevice (e.g., the advertiser). As another award example, the user may beprovided with an entry in a raffle with a chance to win another prize.

The user is able to provide feedback, which may then be used forsubsequently broadcasted and/or generated programs, ads and/or videos.The user receiving device and/or mobile device is able to directlyand/or indirectly collect data about the user's interaction with theprogram and/or video being watched. This provides advertisers withinsight into an advertising demographic of the user and allows theadvertiser to measure user metrics. The stated information also providesadvertisers with the ability to continue to target users that identifywith certain spotted ads. The advertiser may then gauge the user'sinterpretation of the placement of the spotted ad.

The spotted ads also allow ads to be integrated into programs and/orvideos for more real life examples of the products and/or services beingoffered. This provides an emotional advantage over traditionaladvertising, which is often played out during interruptions in a programand/or video. Due to the inclusion of spotted ads in programs and/orvideos, the program and/or video may not be interrupted to playout atradition ad. This improves the viewer's experience and minimizesplayout of ads that are not directed to the specific user. A backenddevice and/or advertiser may tailor spotted ads to be used in certainprograms and/or videos typically watched by a certain user demographicgroup. The users in the user demographic group may typically watchcertain programs and/or videos and may be interested in certain productsand/or services.

The above-described method includes a mobile device being synchronizedto a program and/or video being playout on a display of a user receivingdevice. The mobile device may monitor metadata associated with theprogram and/or video and may allow the user to interact with the programand/or video to identify, select, and/or click on spotted ad items shownand/or audibly played out during the video. When the spotted ad isaudibly played out and there is not corresponding video content, theuser may click anywhere on the video, perform a swipe gesture on themobile device, or perform some other task to provide the mobile devicewith an input indicating that the user detected the spotted ad.

The above-described method allows ads to be integrated into programsand/or videos such that the ads may be viewed each time the programand/or video is played out. Also, since the spotted ads are integratedinto the program and/or video, the spotted ads may not be easily skippedover by a user, mobile device, and/or user receiving device. This isunlike traditional ads (or commercials) that are played out duringinterruptions in a program, which can be skipped and/or deleted by auser receiving device. The spotted ads may be seamlessly blended intoprograms and/or videos without the programs and/or videos beinginterrupted by advertisements (or commercials).

The above-described tasks of FIGS. 10, 18 and 21 are meant to beillustrative examples; the tasks may be performed sequentially,synchronously, simultaneously, continuously, during overlapping timeperiods or in a different order depending upon the application. Also,any of the tasks may not be performed or skipped depending on theimplementation and/or sequence of events.

The above-disclosed content providers, head ends, service providers,advertisers, product and/or service providers, payment service providersand/or backend devices may include and/or be implemented as respectiveservers. The servers may include respective control modules forperforming one or more of the corresponding tasks and/or functionsdisclosed herein.

The wireless communications described in the present disclosure withrespect to Bluetooth transceivers of user receiving devices and mobiledevices may include transmission of data and/or signals havingshort-wavelength ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio waves in anindustrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio frequency band from 2.4to 2.485 GHz. The signals may be transmitted based on Bluetoothprotocols and/or standards. The signals may be transmitted based onBluetooth low energy (or smart) protocols and/or standards. TheBluetooth transceivers may include respective antennas.

The wireless communications described in the present disclosure can beconducted in full or partial compliance with IEEE standard 802.11-2012,IEEE standard 802.16-2009, IEEE standard 802.20-2008, and/or BluetoothCore Specification v4.0. In various implementations, Bluetooth CoreSpecification v4.0 may be modified by one or more of Bluetooth CoreSpecification Addendums 2, 3, or 4. In various implementations, IEEE802.11-2012 may be supplemented by draft IEEE standard 802.11ac, draftIEEE standard 802.11ad, and/or draft IEEE standard 802.11ah.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in noway intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Thebroad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety offorms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples,the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since othermodifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, thespecification, and the following claims. As used herein, the phrase atleast one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR BOR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed tomean “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.” Itshould be understood that one or more steps within a method may beexecuted in different order (or concurrently) without altering theprinciples of the present disclosure.

In this application, including the definitions below, the term ‘module’or the term ‘controller’ may be replaced with the term ‘circuit.’ Theterm ‘module’ may refer to, be part of, or include: an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; afield programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit;other suitable hardware components that provide the describedfunctionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as ina system-on-chip.

The module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples,the interface circuits may include wired or wireless interfaces that areconnected to a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a wide areanetwork (WAN), or combinations thereof. The functionality of any givenmodule of the present disclosure may be distributed among multiplemodules that are connected via interface circuits. For example, multiplemodules may allow load balancing. In a further example, a server (alsoknown as remote, or cloud) module may accomplish some functionality onbehalf of a client module.

The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/ormicrocode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, datastructures, and/or objects. The term shared processor circuitencompasses a single processor circuit that executes some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group processor circuit encompasses aprocessor circuit that, in combination with additional processorcircuits, executes some or all code from one or more modules. Referencesto multiple processor circuits encompass multiple processor circuits ondiscrete dies, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiplecores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a singleprocessor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term shared memorycircuit encompasses a single memory circuit that stores some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group memory circuit encompasses amemory circuit that, in combination with additional memories, storessome or all code from one or more modules.

The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer-readablemedium. The term computer-readable medium, as used herein, does notencompass transitory electrical or electromagnetic signals propagatingthrough a medium (such as on a carrier wave); the term computer-readablemedium may therefore be considered tangible and non-transitory.Non-limiting examples of a non-transitory, tangible computer-readablemedium are nonvolatile memory circuits (such as a flash memory circuit,an erasable programmable read-only memory circuit, or a mask read-onlymemory circuit), volatile memory circuits (such as a static randomaccess memory circuit or a dynamic random access memory circuit),magnetic storage media (such as an analog or digital magnetic tape or ahard disk drive), and optical storage media (such as a CD, a DVD, or aBlu-ray Disc).

The apparatuses and methods described in this application may bepartially or fully implemented by a special purpose computer created byconfiguring a general purpose computer to execute one or more particularfunctions embodied in computer programs. The functional blocks andflowchart elements described above serve as software specifications,which can be translated into the computer programs by the routine workof a skilled technician or programmer.

The computer programs include processor-executable instructions that arestored on at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readablemedium. The computer programs may also include or rely on stored data.The computer programs may encompass a basic input/output system (BIOS)that interacts with hardware of the special purpose computer, devicedrivers that interact with particular devices of the special purposecomputer, one or more operating systems, user applications, backgroundservices, background applications, etc.

The computer programs may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed,such as HTML (hypertext markup language) or XML (extensible markuplanguage), (ii) assembly code, (iii) object code generated from sourcecode by a compiler, (iv) source code for execution by an interpreter,(v) source code for compilation and execution by a just-in-timecompiler, etc. As examples only, source code may be written using syntaxfrom languages including C, C++, C#, Objective C, Haskell, Go, SQL, R,Lisp, Java®, Fortran, Perl, Pascal, Curl, OCaml, Javascript®, HTML5,Ada, ASP (active server pages), PHP, Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang,Ruby, Flash®, Visual Basic®, Lua, and Python®.

The teachings of the present disclosure can be implemented in a systemfor communicating content to an end user or user device. Both the datasource and the user device may be formed using a general computingdevice having a memory or other data storage for incoming and outgoingdata. The memory may comprise but is not limited to a hard drive, FLASH,RAM, PROM, EEPROM, ROM phase-change memory or other discrete memorycomponents.

A content or service provider is also described herein. A content orservice provider is a provider of data to the end user. The serviceprovider, for example, may provide data corresponding to the contentsuch as metadata as well as the actual content in a data stream orsignal. The content or service provider may include a general purposecomputing device, communication components, network interfaces and otherassociated circuitry to allow communication with various other devicesin the system.

Further, while the disclosure is made with respect to the delivery ofvideo (e.g., television (TV), movies, music videos, etc.), it should beunderstood that the systems and methods disclosed herein could also beused for delivery of any media content type, for example, audio, music,data files, web pages, advertising, etc. Additionally, throughout thisdisclosure the transfer of video, programs, or channel information mayinclude and is not limited to the transfer of data, content,information, programs, movie trailers, movies, advertising, assets,video data, etc.

As used herein, the term “title” will be used to refer to, for example,a movie itself and not the name of the movie. While the followingdisclosure is made with respect to example DIRECTV® broadcast servicesand systems, it should be understood that many other delivery systemsare readily applicable to disclosed systems and methods. Such systemsinclude wireless terrestrial distribution systems, wired or cabledistribution systems, cable television distribution systems, Ultra HighFrequency (UHF)/Very High Frequency (VHF) radio frequency systems orother terrestrial broadcast systems (e.g., Multi-channel Multi-pointDistribution System (MMDS), Local Multi-point Distribution System(LMDS), etc.), Internet-based distribution systems, cellulardistribution systems, power-line broadcast systems, any point-to-pointand/or multicast Internet Protocol (IP) delivery network, and fiberoptic networks. Further, the different functions collectively allocatedamong a service provider and integrated receiver/decoders (IRDs) asdescribed below can be reallocated as desired without departing from theintended scope of the present patent.

None of the elements recited in the claims are intended to be ameans-plus-function element within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f)unless an element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for,” orin the case of a method claim using the phrases “operation for” or “stepfor.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile device, comprising: a processing systemincluding a processor; a memory that stores executable instructionsthat, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance ofoperations, comprising: receiving media content from a server, whereinthe media content includes a first advertisement and first metadataassociated with the first advertisement; presenting a first message thatindicates the first advertisement is included in the media content;presenting the media content, the first advertisement, and an indicatorassociated with the first advertisement according to the first metadata;generating a detection signal in response to obtaining user-generatedinput that indicates a user has viewed the first advertisement; and inresponse to generating the detection signal, presenting a purchasewindow for the user to purchase an item associated with firstadvertisement.
 2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the firstmessage is one of a text message, email message, or an alert.
 3. Themobile device of claim 1, wherein the first message is presented priorto the presenting of the media content.
 4. The mobile device of claim 1,wherein the first message is presented during the presenting of themedia content.
 5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the operationscomprise: obtaining a second advertisement; determining an indicatortime threshold for each of a group of advertisements that are associatedwith the indicator; identifying that the indicator for each of the groupof advertisements has been presented within a time period resulting in agroup of indicators; determining that the time period exceeds theindicator time threshold; and presenting the second advertisementwithout the indicator.
 6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein theoperations comprise: determining that the first advertisement was notviewed by a user; and presenting a second message indicating that thefirst advertisement was not viewed the user.
 7. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the first advertisement is selected based on a userassociated with the mobile device previously viewed the firstadvertisement.
 8. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the firstadvertisement is selected based on a user associated with the mobiledevice previously made a purchase associated with the firstadvertisement.
 9. A machine-readable medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a processing system including aprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, the operationscomprising: receiving media content from a server, wherein the mediacontent includes a first advertisement and first metadata associatedwith the first advertisement; presenting a first message that indicatesthe first advertisement is included in the media content; presenting themedia content, the first advertisement, and an indicator associated withthe first advertisement according to the first metadata; generating adetection signal in response to obtaining user-generated input thatindicates a user has viewed the first advertisement; in response togenerating the detection signal, presenting a purchase window for theuser to purchase an item associated with first advertisement; obtaininga second advertisement; determining an indicator time threshold for eachof a group of advertisements that are associated with the indicator;identifying that the indicator for each of the group of advertisementsthat have been presented within a time period resulting in a group ofindicators; determining that the time period exceeds the indicator timethreshold; and presenting the second advertisement without theindicator.
 10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the firstmessage is one of a text message, email message, or an alert.
 11. Themachine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the first message ispresented prior to the presenting of the media content.
 12. Themachine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the first message ispresented during the presenting of the media content.
 13. Themachine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations comprise:determining that the first advertisement was not viewed by a user; andpresenting a second message indicating that the first advertisement wasnot viewed the user.
 14. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, whereinthe first advertisement is selected based on a user associated with theprocessing system previously viewed the first advertisement.
 15. Themachine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the first advertisement isselected based on a user associated with the processing systempreviously made a purchase associated with the first advertisement. 16.A method, comprising: receiving, by a processing system including aprocessor, media content from a server, wherein the media contentincludes a first advertisement and first metadata associated with thefirst advertisement; presenting, by the processing system, a firstmessage that indicates the first advertisement is included in the mediacontent; presenting, by the processing system, the media content, thefirst advertisement, and an indicator associated with the firstadvertisement according to the first metadata; determining, by theprocessing system, that the first advertisement was not viewed by auser; presenting, by the processing system, a second message indicatingthat the first advertisement was not viewed the user; generating, by theprocessing system, a detection signal in response to obtaininguser-generated input that indicates the user has viewed the firstadvertisement; and in response to generating the detection signal,presenting, by the processing system, a purchase window for the user topurchase an item associated with first advertisement.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the first message is one of a text message, emailmessage, or an alert.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the firstmessage is presented prior to the presenting of the media content. 19.The method of claim 16, wherein the first message is presented duringthe presenting of the media content.
 20. The method of claim 16, whereinthe first advertisement is selected based on the user associated withthe processing system previously viewed the first advertisement.